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PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA
London, UK, 2005

Now omnipresent at supermarkets across the UK, at the time automated checkouts were a novelty. I am still fascinated by the cacophony of disembodied female voices giving friendly but firm instructions on how to shop with the help of a machine. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

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FILIPINO BOYS
Barcelona, Spain, 2001

A group of perhaps 20 Filipino teenagers, working in catering in Spain, sitting on the square in front of the CCCB in Barcelona on a mild October evening, getting intoxicated while singing sentimental songs.

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TYPHOON
China, Shanghai, 2005

A typhoon blowing through the windows of a flat on the 34th floor in Shanghai. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

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FILMING IN THE RAIN
London, UK, 2006

A film crew on Toynbee Street in East London is surprised by a thunder- and hailstorm descending from out of nowhere on a mild September night.

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PARK 19 LIFT
China, Guangzhou, 2005

The lift at Park 19 Art Space, in a warehouse in Taining. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

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STREETCRIERS
Hanoi, Vietnam, 2008

Hanoi’s streetcriers are nocturnal creatures who traverse the streets of the old town on their bicycles following seemingly random patterns, each one of them having a unique song advertising the wares they sell. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

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ZHU NI SHENG RI KUAI LE
China, Guangzhou, 2005

Outside a KFC restaurant their advertisement is wishing every passerby a happy birthday on a continuous loop. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

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BALLOONS
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2008

Balloons being filled with air, to be used in one of the shoot-em up stalls at RueiFeng night market. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

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GRAZ HAUPTPLATZ
Austria, Graz, 1999

The main square in Graz on a summer evening: A busker plays local hits on his harmonica, another one plays jazzy saxophone somewhere in the background, people eat sausages and chat about their holidays, trams pass.

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RHYTHMS OF RESISTANCE
London, UK, 2003

On 20th March 2003, the day after the invasion of Iraq, demonstrations were held around the world in opposition to the war. In London, people gathered in Parliament Square in the afternoon, shouting slogans at the Houses of Parliament that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up centuries earlier. Later in the day, drum band Rhythms of Resistance joined the protest with their infectious rhythms, making sure the noise of public anger will penetrate the shielded corridors of power.

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RURAL NIGHT LIFE
Austria, Straden, 2007

A peaceful late summer night in the village of Straden: crickets chirping, leaves blowing in the wind, bells tinkling and the churchbell rings, while my dad is snoring contently in the background.

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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).

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50 MOGANSHAN LU
China, Shanghai, 2004

Before the hype, 50 Moganshan Lu was a collection of warehouses that housed what were then Shanghai’s up-and-coming independent galleries. It was all very low-key and seemed to blend in effortlessly with what had been there already. This recording was made one late Saturday afternoon and I was taken by the serenity of the whole scenery: children playing, people singing while passing on their bicycles, birds chirping. A year later the place had been rebranded as M50, listed in tourist guides, and building works were under way in every corner. These days, the place is like a miniature arts entertainment district, filled with commercial galleries, design shops, art bookshops and the obligatory cafes. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Brilliant City.

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BALL GAMES
London, UK, 2005

A group of children from the local Bangladeshi community playing ball games in a side lane off Commercial Street on a Sunday afternoon. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

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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.