I often review music with lyrics not in the English language but this is the first time I’ve reviewed an album that really fits the genre of world music. Alive was  Dingding’s debut, aside from an early dance album, and it made a big splash all around the world. From what I can gather it was successful in her native China and her victory at the BBC world music awards led to media coverage in the UK, performances at WOMAD and the Royal Albert Hall (a date at Glastonbury was derailed by Dingding’s refusal to go against China’s stance on Tibet). Though she is far from a household name Sa Dingding did achieve enough success in the UK to have her second album stocked in my local HMV, not a store renowned for its leftfield musical choices. All this on the strength of one album, so what’s all the fuss…

I have really enjoyed recording different soundscapes!
It has been strange starting my project through this form of physical research as opposed to written research.

These recordings have helped me notice that I am especially interested in peoples voices within the soundscape. It is interesting how we can block out other noise such as music or cars in order to listen to someone else conversation. We are able to snap out of our thoughts and capture pieces of information from other peoples lives.

Walking around with the Zoom Recorder is especially odd because it blocks out any noise that you may hear usually and allows you to listen to even the smallest of sounds such as my bag moving whilst I am walking. It is a really crisp sound when recording, it would be interesting if I could attempt to do something with this effect.

I am excited to see what…

Into the Light is a sanctuary for soft colors. Peach, vanilla, cinnamon, the whitest of white chocolate; cétieu (Poland’s Tekla Mrozowicka) has already made our end-of-year lists and she is now one of Europe’s leading lights. Her music isn’t tainted in any way, shape or form. Everything is pure, innocent and lovely. Ambient should always be this way; unobtrusive and yet calming the body, mind and spirit, glowing radiantly whilst blanking out the petty dramas of the day. It’s one of the reasons why we listen to and love ambient music; we can escape. It doesn’t fear, it doesn’t hate. All is love.

The ambient tones are crystal clear, and they shimmer like a thousand gemstones as the sun lights upon the surface of a shallow rock pool. Slightly introverted, it lives solely for the pleasure of living, and it enjoys being alive. Everything gels together, but the piano is the true leader. It slowly…

SO! Amplifies. . .a highly-curated, rolling mini-post series by which we editors hip you to cultural makers and organizations doing work we really really dig.  You’re welcome!

—

Inspired by how sound and memory interact, Cities and Memory is a sound program with the aim of “remixing the world, one sound at a time,” existing on the (already quite blurred) line between documentary field recording and sound art.

Its primary manifestation is an online global sound map, on which every location boasts two sounds, the “city” and the “memory.” The “city” sound is the faithful, documentary field recording capturing that place at that time, as it existed and was heard. The “memory” sound is a reimagined, remixed, reinterpreted version of that sound: everything from oral reconstructions, full-on techno tracks built around a field recording, ambient reimaginings, and all the points in between, as summarized in this roundup of creative approaches from…