"As I was browsing the Cities and Memory sound library, I had an LFO patch quietly looping in the background. When the field recording Lonely Beach surfaced, it fell into place with the glitchy texture I was shaping, just like the sound of ropes creaking on a sailing boat at night!
"From that accidental pairing, the track began to write itself. I took those two elements and let them drift together, along with scattered sounds of the twinkly stars, eventually becoming this warm, sleepy piece."
Lonely Beach, Cambodia reimagined by Trees Can Talk.
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The bird
"Whenever anyone speaks of Auschwitz, I always picture the iconic Arbeit Macht Frei Gate; an image linked to the atrocities associated with the holocaust. I have never been to Auschwitz, but when I heard the field recording I was instantly transported there. I found the sounds so evocative and tried to imagine how it must have felt for those individuals who were taken there in the 1940’s, although this is ultimately impossible. What thoughts must have been going through their minds as they approached the gate? These were ordinary human beings, and I often wonder how another person could possibly dehumanise in such a brutal way as the Nazis did.
"I wanted “The Bird’ to consider these themes and think about the feelings of the people and whether they felt abandoned or simply resigned to their fate as they saw others being beaten or even killed. What must they have thought of the guards who treated them that way? I also wanted to try and represent the futility of such events by using the image of a bird flying, overlooking the camp, seeing the death and cruelty. What would the bird say of such sights if it could talk? I imagine they would be utterly bewildered by the pointlessness of it all.
"The sounds of the field recording are included throughout the whole of the song to ensure the focus is never lost, aiding the narrative and emphasising the importance of the lyric."
Arbeit Macht Frei gate at Auschwitz reimagined by Simon Holmes.
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Gentle waves on Lonely Beach
At Lonely Beach on Koh Rong, the waves reach the shore in soft, unhurried patterns. Each swell rises and falls with calm consistency, a natural rhythm that soothes the mind. The beach is quiet and open, with only the sea’s gentle presence filling the air. It is a place of quiet retreat, where the sound of the ocean encourages rest and relaxation.
Recorded by Jake Edwards.
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Arbeit Macht Frei, Auschwitz
Ambisonics recordings of the sound at the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate to Auschwitz-I.
This soundscape-composition is part of the HEYR project, presenting 3-dimensional soundscapes from special locations, connected to special events. Find out more by visiting https://www.heyr.no
Recorded by Anders Vinjar.
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Trains overhead in Berlin
Trains passing overhead on a overpass at Savignyplatz on a Sunday morning in Berlin, with light rain clearly audible too.
Recorded in September 2025 by Cities and Memory.
Cities and Memory remixes the world, one sound at a time - a global collaboration between artists and sound recordists all over the world.
The project presents an amazingly-diverse array of field recordings from all over the world, but also reimagined, recomposed versions of those recordings as we go on a mission to remix the world.
What you'll hear in the podcast are our latest sounds - either a field recording from somewhere in the world, or a remixed new composition based solely on those sounds. Each podcast description tells you more about what you're hearing, and where it came from.
There are more than 7,000 sounds featured on our sound map, spread over more than 130 countries and territories. The sounds cover parts of the world as diverse as the hubbub of San Francisco’s main station, traditional fishing women’s songs at Lake Turkana, the sound of computer data centres in Birmingham, spiritual temple chanting in New Taipei City or the hum of the vaporetto engines in Venice. You can explore the project in full at www.citiesandmemory.com
Listen to Cities and Memory - remixing the world, Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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