Sounds of the Bog and the Apocalypse
A bog’s curious, ordinary, delicately explosive sounds belong in our narratives of climate crisis just as much as landscapes of epic disaster.
by Lara Weaver | Tuesday 20th September
Halfway to Atlantis: Remembering the 2021 London floods
One year on from some of London’s most severe surface flooding, comparative photography can help us trace the cycle of shock, cleanup, and forgetting that surrounds environmental disasters.
by Jay Richardson with photography by Paul Reinhard | Monday 25th July
Floodlines: Rain sounds recomposed
Rain makes some of the world’s best-loved sounds. They’re even better coming from a giant plywood recorder.
by Jay Richardson | Thursday 21st July
Brittle and dry: London in the heat wave
At 37 degrees, the airy lawns of an East London park have dried into arid emptiness amidst a potentially lethal heat wave.
by Jay Richardson | Monday 18th July
Protest isn’t noise
When you describe the sounds of protest as “noise” you deny its democratic function—and admit how much it bothers you.
by Jay Richardson | Wednesday 13th July
UK rainfall variability: It never rains but it pours
Rainfall might be stable from year to year, but the story is very different day to day.
by Jay Richardson | Wednesday 29th June 2022
“Asbestos dust everywhere”: Nordic Mining illegally releases carcinogen
The safety violation marks the start of a multi-decade mining project that plans to deposit toxic waste in a protected salmon fjord.
by Jay Richardson and Sally Raudon | Thursday 12th May
Classical music education and the sour taste of “greats”
An attitude of ‘duty’ to undertake classical music education from ‘expertise’ arguably demonstrates paternalism under the guise of community care.
by Georgia Dawson | Monday 4th April
Marsham Street’s parliament of trees
A London Plane tree stands outside the Home Office building on Marsham Street during protests against the government’s new asylum policy.
by Jay Richardson | Monday 25th April
A field guide to open secrets
Getting to know a place takes time, even with methods like a randomised sound survey. It also takes the courage to throw away your map.
by Jay Richardson | Monday 13th June
Rain turns the world into a drum
Not even laser imaging can tell you as much about your material surroundings as rain can.
by Jay Richardson | Saturday 10th April
Remembering a crisis in sound
Street recordings from the UK’s first coronavirus lockdown tell a tale of quietness, crisis, and the presence of absence.
by Jay Richardson | Sunday 3rd April
Traffic isn’t noise
The way we hear traffic sounds reveals what we think of as worth hearing.
by Jay Richardson | Wednesday 23rd March
Singing ‘chiffchaff’ by numbers
There’s much more to a chiffchaff than meets the ear.
by Jay Richardson | Wednesday 25th May
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