The sounds of protest against climate change today, courtesy of Ben Gale in Paris:

“This is a recording of the Red Lines protest on 12th December 2015 – The final day of the COP21 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris.

“The protest was arranged to make sure that “the people had the last word”: to show that the is a global movement who want to apply pressure to leaders of countries and see that the “redline” of climate change targets laid out in negotiactions are not crossed.

“With Donald Trump currently debating whether to pull out of the COP21 climate agreement, this piece seems to become more relevant again. A reminder that there are people willing to go out on the streets and stand up for our planet.”

City version:

Long-time Cities and Memory contributor Mark Taylor tackled this one, and describes his approach:

“I absolutely loved this field recording by Ben Gale and wanted to highlight its qualities as much as possible in my remix – one of the reasons why you will hear it at the beginning and end of my piece with no editing whatsoever!

“This composition was inspired by my own experiences on various protest marches over the years and my ability to almost completely shutdown external stimuli; to be ALONE IN THE CROWD. It’s a defence mechanism really, but at times almost spiritual – an ‘out of crowd’ experience! I don’t enjoy large gatherings that much at all and I think my brain simply needs time-out from the revelry!

“My piece starts with Ben’s field recording in its raw state. Slowly the sounds of protest morph, warp and fade into the background.

“They continue to ebb and flow, almost like a living breathing creature, but always slightly distant / faded.
A simply, dissonant piano motif represents me in the middle of the throng. A choir theme adds that little edge of spirituality!

“The piano and choir fade away. Slowly the sounds of protest re-enter my consciousness and I rejoin the masses.”

Memory version: