Field Recordings

“Hundreds of people gather in solidarity at one of the locations threatened by far right violence last night, as anti-racist groups across the UK respond to a list encouraging attacks on immigration centres. This followed a week of domestic terrorism from far right groups, fuelled by a poisonous political and media discourse in this country, which had seen violent attacks on communities &#82...

“It’s a cave at the foot of the hill at Assos under the old Venetian fortress. There’s a sea entrance (the light in the centre) and a small hole that gives access from a small pebble beach.”

“I was on a walk in Chopwell Woodland Park which is on the fringe of Gateshead, and I came across this beautiful pylon. I heard it first fizzing with static among the trees, so when I saw it, I had to get my recorder out and capture it. That evening there was an amazing thunderstorm, which the pylon was clearly feeling hours before I could.”

“Full of chaotic bells from an 11th or 12th century Abbey in the town we’re staying in. Listen out for one of the Pétanque players stepping away from the game to admonish / check in on her dog!”

“A journey on the underground. Eight and a half minute field recording. London, April 2024.”

“Around the Dolomites in Northeastern Italy, you frequently come across herds of cows. Munching on grass and wagging their heads, their cowbells echo around the mountain valleys like wind chimes or gamelans.”

“disgusting – shall I put it up? Lol sure. It was so squelchy. Never heard an egg like it.”

“People gather to celebrate in Place Jean Jaurès hours after the Nouveau Front Populaire (an alliance of left wing movements in France) beats both Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and the far right to become the largest bloc in the National Assembly .”

“We were in a place called Bratch, talking a walk along a canal towpath. We had a big trivial argument, saw some baby moorhens and nice houseboats, and on the way back to the car heard a full-throated scream of “Sweet Caroline! Bababa”

“It was recorded on summer solstice 21 st  of June in Stonehenge last week, where thousands of people gathered there to wait for the sunrise. Loads people brought drums and all kinds of instruments with them and was improvising together spontaneously. Chaotic but inviting.”

“I made this recording recently whilst on tour in Norway. There was a national alarm test (similar to what we had in the UK a while back) and I was down by the Harbour… Just captured on my iPhone so not the best quality.”

“Don’t know if it qualifies as a field recording–it’s water draining through the pipes after a washing machine spin cycle.”

“In the first week of summer in June 2024, I was out recording some interviews for my radio program on environment at the Curonian Spit National Park. There I visited a group of 11 busy goats, munching on a fresh grass in the meadow, which conservationists would like to see less dominated by reed. That is why the goats have been transported here by a ferry across the lagoon from the farm in...

“Waves fizz and crackle on the shoreline”

“Recorded on Saturday 4th May 2024 in Aulus-les-Bains, a little village nestled in the French Pyrenees. I was out for a walk around the village watching the soft colours of the houses take on the faded glow of the evening sun when I came across a field full of donkeys who were running towards food. You can hear the cowbells around their necks sing out as they eat together. In the distance I...

“This is a gibbon morning chorus, recorded in the car park of Fota House, near Cobh, Co. Cork. The car park is seperated from Fota Wildlife Park by a fence. There is also a scattered chorus of birds, some in the trees overhead, some further away. You can also hear children’s voices as they wander the wildlife park. From where I recorded I couldn’t see the Gibbons, but I could see a Wallaby w...

“Created by the architect Nikola Bašić in 2005. Everytime I visited the sea organ it was crowded with tourists. This time – although only for a brief moment – I was alone with the organ and the sea.”

“When I asked if I may record, the lady said of course – she loves the sound, too, and plays it back from her phone when she’s away from the farm, it helps her fall asleep. She also said she sometimes dozes off while working in the shop, which is in the room next to the mill.”

“It’s a contact mic recording of a corrugated iron roof sheet rattling in the wind. There was a fisherman in a nearby hut singing and you can just pick him up from time to time during the recording I was squatting on the ground with the mic attached to the sheet via a clothes peg, next to a row of fishermen’ huts.”