Austria Graz Straden China Chongqing Guangzhou Qingyuan Shanghai Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Netherlands Eindhoven Slovenia Ljubljana Spain Barcelona Taiwan Kaohsiung Thailand Bangkok UK London USA New York Vietnam Hanoi
NUMA NUMA
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008
The song Dragostea Din Tei (also known as the Numa Numa song) by Moldovan one-hit wonder O-Zone was a summer hit in Europe in 2003-04 and then took East Asia by storm in 2006. For some time, it was virtually impossible to leave the house without hearing the song blaring from some speakers somewhere. Two years later, at RueiFeng night market in Kaohsiung, the spectre of the tune lingers on in ghastly, disfigured 4-bit beeps seeping out of a row of arcade machines like putrid toxic sludge. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008
The song Dragostea Din Tei (also known as the Numa Numa song) by Moldovan one-hit wonder O-Zone was a summer hit in Europe in 2003-04 and then took East Asia by storm in 2006. For some time, it was virtually impossible to leave the house without hearing the song blaring from some speakers somewhere. Two years later, at RueiFeng night market in Kaohsiung, the spectre of the tune lingers on in ghastly, disfigured 4-bit beeps seeping out of a row of arcade machines like putrid toxic sludge. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.
Chongqing Construction Workers’ Percussion Ensemble
3 minutes, 29 seconds
"Chongqing Construction Workers’ Percussion Ensemble"
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CHONGQING CONSTRUCTION WORKERS’ PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
China, Chongqing, 2005
A group of construction workers attacking paving stones with pickaxes and chisels in Jiefangbei. The fact that their pickaxes are all tuned to different notes makes the process sound more like a musical performance than a building site. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
China, Chongqing, 2005
A group of construction workers attacking paving stones with pickaxes and chisels in Jiefangbei. The fact that their pickaxes are all tuned to different notes makes the process sound more like a musical performance than a building site. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
PREACHER
Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2006
He is the sort of loveable eccentric every city should have more of. A preacher of his very own denomination, white hair and beard floating in the wind, roaming the centre of town on his buggy that is decorated with spiritual slogans while offering blessings and advice to anyone happy to listen. This recording is a blessing in a made-up language, delivered personally to me.
Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2006
He is the sort of loveable eccentric every city should have more of. A preacher of his very own denomination, white hair and beard floating in the wind, roaming the centre of town on his buggy that is decorated with spiritual slogans while offering blessings and advice to anyone happy to listen. This recording is a blessing in a made-up language, delivered personally to me.
GREENWICH FOOT TUNNEL
London, UK, 2005
Opened in 1902, Greenwich Foot Tunnel runs under the river Thames, connecting the Isle of Dogs with the borough of Greenwich. Its rounded diameter and tiled walls give it peculiar acoustics, which are being explored here by children imitating police sirens. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
London, UK, 2005
Opened in 1902, Greenwich Foot Tunnel runs under the river Thames, connecting the Isle of Dogs with the borough of Greenwich. Its rounded diameter and tiled walls give it peculiar acoustics, which are being explored here by children imitating police sirens. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
MCADVERTISING
China, Chongqing, 2005
A McDonald’s restaurant in Jiefangbei is advertising its delicacies with speakers mounted on the outside of the building. But even the CD player can’t quite get itself to try and entice passersby to savour the riches of American fast food on offer inside. Instead it spurts and sputters, much like one’s digestive tracts after a visit to the selfsame restaurant. All this is accompanied by the din of construction that hangs across hills of the city in concurrence with the clouds of thick smog. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
China, Chongqing, 2005
A McDonald’s restaurant in Jiefangbei is advertising its delicacies with speakers mounted on the outside of the building. But even the CD player can’t quite get itself to try and entice passersby to savour the riches of American fast food on offer inside. Instead it spurts and sputters, much like one’s digestive tracts after a visit to the selfsame restaurant. All this is accompanied by the din of construction that hangs across hills of the city in concurrence with the clouds of thick smog. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
NORTH BANK REMOVALS
China, Chongqing, 2005
Workers loading rubble from demolished buildings onto a ship on the north bank of Jialing river, recorded from a distance and accompanied by the horns of passing ships. The area will be flooded by the raised water levels caused by the Three Gorges Dam. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
China, Chongqing, 2005
Workers loading rubble from demolished buildings onto a ship on the north bank of Jialing river, recorded from a distance and accompanied by the horns of passing ships. The area will be flooded by the raised water levels caused by the Three Gorges Dam. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
BRIXTON STATION
London, UK, 1999
At the time, Brixton station was a kind of micro-melting pot featuring a set of regularly appearing characters who collectively caused commotion on a daily basis. Some of them were known by names derived from the sounds they contributed to the local soundscape: the Biggie-Biggie man or the Incense man for example. These two were supported by an assortment of preachers from various Baptist and Pentecostal churches, market criers, ticket touts, Underground staff and others. Since the attempt at gentrifying the centre of Brixton things have become a lot less interesting. Leaving the station now, one is not greeted by the lively hustle and bustle, but by the sounds of cars and buses going past.
This recording was released on Peter Cusack’s CD Your Favourite London Sounds (2001).
London, UK, 1999
At the time, Brixton station was a kind of micro-melting pot featuring a set of regularly appearing characters who collectively caused commotion on a daily basis. Some of them were known by names derived from the sounds they contributed to the local soundscape: the Biggie-Biggie man or the Incense man for example. These two were supported by an assortment of preachers from various Baptist and Pentecostal churches, market criers, ticket touts, Underground staff and others. Since the attempt at gentrifying the centre of Brixton things have become a lot less interesting. Leaving the station now, one is not greeted by the lively hustle and bustle, but by the sounds of cars and buses going past.
This recording was released on Peter Cusack’s CD Your Favourite London Sounds (2001).
SOUTH BANK SKATE PARK
London, UK, 2005
A cavernous space with walls covered in graffiti, the skate park at the South Bank Centre is somewhat reminscent of the sites of prehistoric rituals. In this place, youngsters daily worship the cult of the four wheels attached to a wooden board. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
London, UK, 2005
A cavernous space with walls covered in graffiti, the skate park at the South Bank Centre is somewhat reminscent of the sites of prehistoric rituals. In this place, youngsters daily worship the cult of the four wheels attached to a wooden board. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
ANARCHY IN THE UK
London, UK, 2001
On May Day 2001, there was a multitude of anti-capitalist protests across London, including mass cycle rides at King’s Cross and Euston, Reclaim the Streets in Elephant and Castle, and rallies at Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street, where most of the shops had been boarded up in advance. After police had penned in protesters for hours at Oxford Circus without water or toilets, a small group of anarchists broke free and advanced to nearby Tottenham Court Road. There the situation was entirely different. With a handful of police charging but soon losing control of the situation, rioters were roaming the territory unconstrained, smashing the windows of banks and shops, in a precursor to the much broader public anger that is challenging the dominant economic order since.
London, UK, 2001
On May Day 2001, there was a multitude of anti-capitalist protests across London, including mass cycle rides at King’s Cross and Euston, Reclaim the Streets in Elephant and Castle, and rallies at Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street, where most of the shops had been boarded up in advance. After police had penned in protesters for hours at Oxford Circus without water or toilets, a small group of anarchists broke free and advanced to nearby Tottenham Court Road. There the situation was entirely different. With a handful of police charging but soon losing control of the situation, rioters were roaming the territory unconstrained, smashing the windows of banks and shops, in a precursor to the much broader public anger that is challenging the dominant economic order since.
SHIPYARD WORKERS
China, Guangzhou, 2005
It’s 1 pm. At a Shipyard along the southern arm of the Zhujiang river sirens call the start of a new shift. Seemingly out of nowhere hordes of workers descend onto the place and dissapear behind its gates. All of them are dressed in identical clothes, most are on bicycles, some come on foot or on motorbike. After about 20 minutes the spectacle ends, the gates close and quietness ensues outside while work begins behind the walls encircling the yard. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.
China, Guangzhou, 2005
It’s 1 pm. At a Shipyard along the southern arm of the Zhujiang river sirens call the start of a new shift. Seemingly out of nowhere hordes of workers descend onto the place and dissapear behind its gates. All of them are dressed in identical clothes, most are on bicycles, some come on foot or on motorbike. After about 20 minutes the spectacle ends, the gates close and quietness ensues outside while work begins behind the walls encircling the yard. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.