#RIO: Urca Sunset

Urca is a great example of Rio being the most unlikely metropolis I've ever experienced. An enormous, heaving city is situated in and around stunningly beautiful bays and mountains.

Urca is like a tiny Mediterranean fishing village. A small beach, waves lapping against the rocks, bird calls from the trees... but combined with heavy traffic and high-rise blocks on the horizon.

#RIO: Urban Jungle

A cloudy Saturday afternoon in Copacabana.

My first impressions of Rio are the juxtaposition between areas of towering urban development punctuated by large, sheer-sided mountains covered in jungle.

This recording captures that to some extent: the omnipresent hum of the city combined with the circling birds overhead and in the trees.

#SeoulSounds: Maypole Groove

A street festival in Ansan, a "suburb city" of Seoul. The assembled crowd is led to perform a Maypole dance by a very enthusiastic MC, who controls the action admirably. The musical accompaniment is by a traditional Samul-Nori Korean percussion group.

Listening to the soundscape out of context, I focus much more on the groove and her vocal part without understanding the words or seeing her visual gestures. I love it, she got the flow, they got tha funk.

#SeoulSounds - Market Voices

A warm, sunny lunchtime in Seoul's most famous market: Namdaemun. Over 10,000 stalls and between 300,000 - 400,00 daily customers (not including up to 70,00 daily tourists). It strikes me that most market soundscapes probably appear quite similar, but what makes each one distinct? For me, its the voices. Here's a selection: I particularly love the three men at the end, singing their wares together in an unconscious chorus. My jet-lagged drawl sounds very out of place in comparison.
 

No Silence For Peace

A chilly Sunday lunchtime in Belfast city centre. Around 1500 people gather in front of the City Hall, clutching takeaway cups of tea and coffee in gloved hands. At around 12.50pm the crowd break into a hearty round of applause and people begin to cheer. For ten minutes the sound continues and increases. People have brought pots and pans to bang. A 10 year old child blows a trombone! Slowly but surely everyone becomes less and less inhibited, joyous whoops ring out. The feeling is one of immense catharsis. For a brief moment, it's smiles all round.

EarBytes Special: #SpanishRevolution 2-Migel

There are 8,000 people sat crossed-legged across Plaça Catalunya, a part of a political demonstration dubbed "Los Indignados". Rousing speeches ring out across the square.
I find myself sitting next to Migel - a life-long farmer from a small village of 200 people, who is in Barcelona for the weekend to sell his hand-made honey at an artisans market.
During our half-hour conversation he told me a beautifully simply story of how his household had the only telephone in the village. As a boy he took messages for everyone who called. At the end of the month, the telephone bil was normally 500-1000 pesetas (around 6€)... split between 50 households.
EarBytes Special #SpanishRevolution: 2-Migel by If Walls Had Ears

EarBytes Special: #SpanishRevolution 1-La Fiesta De La Revolucion

Friday 20th May 2011. Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona. 10.30pm. 6th and largest day of demonstrations by "Los Indignados" (The Indignant) - a protest demanding jobs, better living standards, a fairer system of democracy and changes to the Socialist government's austerity plans.

When I arrived, the atmosphere was one of celebration - people buying beers from illegal street sellers, chanting, singing and making percussive noise with metal objects.

EarBytes Special: #SpanishRevolution 1-La Fiesta De La Revolucion by If Walls Had Ears