Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey sits atop Montserrat mountain in Catalonia, Spain. It's an 11th-century Benedictine monastery that still begs to be a pilgrimage. This recording was taken after following the old pilgrims path all the way up the mountain under a scorching sun. 
The basilica was a cool, serene relief tucked at the top of the sharp mountains. It's easy to understand the awesome emotional effect it has had on those who arrived before. 
Recorded by wwjd.

"The Benedictine Monastery Santa Maria de Montserrat is legendary and laden with history spanning over a thousand years. Upon hearing the church organ in the presence of moving bodies, (fieldrecording by Jason Talsma), I imagined a deeper layer of sacral space. 
"I made a recording in a naturally reverberating oil cistern where all of us present improvised with body and voice. There is also a thin layer of Lyra-8 with Cosmos reverb and ambient looper."
Pipe organ in Montserrat abbey basilica reimagined by Eva Q Månsson.

Aboard the number 13 tram from Dronningensgate to Ekebergparken in Oslo, with track sounds, announcements in Norwegian, doors opening and closing, the sounds of passengers and then the sound of the tram leaving from the outside.
Recorded in 2025 by Cities and Memory.

Siste stopp (2026) is a reinterpretation of a field recording of the number 13 tram to Ekebergparken, in Oslo. The title means “last stop” in Norwegian. The piece starts from the last stop of the line, the place where the journey ends and the sound stays, waiting. 
This acousmatic work builds its imagery on many layers, connected to space and time. The original material is stretched, broken into pieces and reorganized until it loses its first identity and becomes sound matter on its own, appearing and fading like a memory of the place. The work comes from a Csound code that I developed to rework field recordings in a contemporary electroacoustic way. 
Oslo tram to Ekebergparken reimagined by Feliciano Chiriaco.

"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.