This field recording comes from Alexandria, Egypt, and forms part of the Cities and Memory Alexandra city sound guide by Rafael Diogo, which you can explore in full here. Rafael writes:
“The Zanket El Setat night market is a night market in Alexandria, Egypt, where vendors and street food stalls come together to create a lively and bustling atmosphere. It is a popular destination for locals, who come to enjoy the food, shopping, and entertainment.
“The variety of distinct sounds is vast, such as vendors calling out to attract customers, people bargaining for goods, the hum of chatter from shoppers, and the sounds of goods being sold, such as the clanking of silverware, the hiss of frying food, and the chatter of ice in drinks. It might also have background music or live music performances, as it is very common to hear street musicians playing traditional Egyptian music.”
City version:
Next up, a fascinating reinterpretation of the sound created by Hawksmoor, who describes his approach like this:
“I was unsure how to find a way into the project until I found the bell sound – maybe from a tram or bus or something? – which worked really well as a simple rhythm as the bell pattern is quite syncopated and then the final ‘beat’ is a car door shutting.
“It became quite hypnotic, so I decided to go with that feeling and try to capture an implied altered-state, hallucinogenic journey through the night market.
“I then started reading about Hypatia the ancient Alexandrian mathematician and philosopher who was murdered for her ‘pagan’ beliefs – with one theory suggesting this took place on the vernal equinox – and so I thought I would tie the two things together.”
For more city sound guides, visit https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides/
Memory version:
