Protesting the banking collapse in Iceland

Stuart Bowditch sent us this recording from Reykjavik, Iceland, where protests were taking place over the banking collapse:

“Recorded on the same trip as my previous submission for Sacred Spaces, I stumbled upon this protest about the banking collapse outside the Icelandic Government Building on Kirkjustræti.

“There were many people continually banging pots, pans and a huge assortment of metallic objects hanging from ropes strung between the lamp posts.”

City version:

A really excellent reimagined piece by Stephanie Merchak, who writes:

“I chose to re-imagine this precise sound because it caught my attention as soon as I heard it.

“I found incredible how quiet, disciplined and ordered it sounded. You can barely hear anyone speaking.

“It’s very different from other protests around the world where you hear people shouting most of the time. It sounds more like a musical performance.

“I wanted to build around this recording an electronic track that sounded agressive. I chopped parts from the original field recording that were suitable to be looped. I also used time stretching on the original recording to create a dark background ambience.

“Then I built beats, bass and synth patterns with Ableton Live devices and structured the track in a way that the listener would feel a constant flow, a constant pressure.”

Memory version: