Advertise on podcast: Cities and Memory - remixing the world

"When I first heard Stuart’s recording of Whitby at low tide, the oystercatchers bickering over food and the gulls going wild across the harbour, I couldn’t help smiling. There’s so much life in it. But the longer I listened, the more I found myself thinking about what lies beneath, the sea’s quiet, endless depths.  "I mostly transformed the recording, letting just a few moments come through as they are. The piece wanders wherever it wanted to go: tender, a little gothic, a little medieval, cinematic, and even dancing for a while. I didn’t give it a real ending, because the tide doesn’t have one, and neither does time."  Oystercatchers in Whitby reimagined by Mirai No Hagaki.

In Whitby's harbour at low tide, oystercatchers peep at one another as they fight over food in the wet sand, while in the background hordes of gulls are getting very excited about something on the other side of the harbour. November 2026. Recorded by Cities and Memory.

This is an ambisonic recording made inside a sheep barn with the recorder set up on the ground near the gate. We hear close-up sounds of baaing, bells, snorts, peeing. Just milked, the ewes are impatient to go out to pasture. When the shepherd opens the gate to let them out they stampede past the machine, which at some point I had to rescue from stray hooves. Recorded in Ano Pedina, Greece by Maria Margaronis.

A metro journey from Reamur Sebastopol to Gambetta, with the sounds of closing and opening doors, announcement, passengers chatting and the rumble rails.  Recorded in Paris, France in February 2026 by Cities and Memory.

The tram ride in Oslo from Nybrua to Dronningensgate, with beeps, doors opening and closing, track sounds and announcements.  Recorded by Cities and Memory.

"Melodies that play in your head on an autumn train journey through Oslo, with rhythms inspired by the click-clack of the tracks. Created with piano and percussion samples, electric guitar and bass, human voice and Osmose keyboard." Oslo tram journey reimagined by Leigh Harrison.

"Sheepscape started with Maria Margaronis’ ambisonic recording inside a sheep barn in Ano Pedina, Zagori, Epirus, Northern Greece. I dearly love this region of Greece and have been stopped in traffic jams of sheep and goats in this region which is humorous as long as you are not in a hurry.  "In order to create the composition, I first listened to the pitches of the bells and sheep ‘baas’ and tried to pick the same or similar pitches to improvise on as if I was playing the piano like sheep bells and baas. I wanted the piano part to reflect the flow of the original track which starts, as Maria Margaronis reflects, with impatient sheep waiting to be let out of their shed after they have been milked. Two thirds into the event, the actual recording device had to be rescued from the stampeding sheep, hence the feedback noise. Nearing the end they race out with their bells clanking.  "To fit with the track that Maria Margaronis calls “Sheep’s ear view” I improvised on the piano and recorded eight different extracts with slightly different states of de-tuning and re-tuning of the same piano which I put together with effects to, as subtly as possible, blend with the natural sounds of the sheep and their environment." Sheep in Ano Pedina reimagined by Coreen Morsink.

"The source file of a metro journey in Paris has a real rhythm to it – announcements, signals, doors, movement… in a repetitive cycle. It also starts with someone singing. I took the notes of this and some of the audio elements, repeated them and added some percussion It’s still completely recognisable as the original recording but with a melodic underlying structure – so it works like a song." Paris metro line 3 reimagined by Marcia Mihotich.

"I was instantly struck by the lovely modal key that the cowbells were in (D Lydian). I wanted to play around with this scale and add to the mysterious nature of it. I imagined myself amongst the cows surrounded by beautiful harmonies." Cowbells in Trento, Italy reimagined by Jess Bryant.

Cowbells on a herd of mountain cows in the mountains in Trento, Italy, recorded first up close then walking away and becoming increasingly distant, summer 2026. Recorded by Cities and Memory.

Train station of Fullerton, CA. Enormously long freight train passing slowly with much metallic creaking. First half is motor vehicles; the second half is liquified petroleum gas. Going slowly apparently because of speed restriction on the track.  Recorded by Mark Wilden.

"I have tried to combine the rhythms of this wonderful recording with a sense of lonely distance I've just finished reading Ed Conway's "Trade World" in which he reveals the interconnectedness and complexity of automotive manufacturing. I imagined that this long train might be carry cars which have components that have travelled to and from many places over huge distances." Freight train in Fullerton, USA reimagined by Roland Pyle.

A game simulating what it takes to run the power grid for an entire city, featuring various alarm sounds, machinery sounds, incoming phone calls, and voiceover commentary. Part of an interactive exhibit at the Museum of Energy and Technology in Vilnius.  Recorded in October 2026 by Cities and Memory.

A busker plays a full-size harp in a square in Le Marais, Paris, including playing Wonderwall by Oasis in an attempt to charm passers-by. We can hear the sound of cafes, shoppers and other passers-by in and amongst the harp music.  Recorded in April 2026 by Cities and Memory.

The heavily-reverbed impressive interior of Hannover's Neues Rathaus, through which we walk, then exit outside towards two powerful fountains in the courtyard outside.  Recordedd by Cities and Memory.