• Goldfinches and a glass furnace
    Jun 25 2024

    A recording of dawn chorus on Ince Marshes.

    The protected nature reserve sits in the Stanlow marshland now occupied by heavy industry. Some of the heaviest - oil refineries, chemical plants, glass factories.

    As I arrived, as well as the familiar orange hue felting itself to the cloud cover above the oil refinery, what struck me was the noise of the Encirc glass factory dominating the soundscape of birds waking up and having a stretch of their vocal chords.

    I was left wondering whether this din affects the sound of the birds, whether they sleep okay, whether they get used to it, or if they see it as positive compitition. Either way, this soundclash is a pretty unique one, and another way to show how the lives of wildlife, machines, and humans are inexorably entwined in this place.

    www.georgepowell.online

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    1 hr
  • Take five: Stop Off at Tebay Services
    Jun 6 2024

    Apparently the most beautiful service station in the country. On the M6, Tebay offers artisan food, drinks, bits and bobs, and is set back from the motorway with views of the Lake District. This hark to nature, with products inside adorned with earthly tones, is situated in stark contrast to the greyscale tarmac, blue shiny signs and white and red scintillations of motorways.

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    5 mins
  • Steam Launch Engine
    May 31 2024

    Recorded at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.

    I used the Lom Geofon attached directly to the engine, giving it a nice low burbling sound, and combined this with a single Clippy EM272 positioned quite close to give a decent crispness.

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    2 mins
  • A Violent Ambience: BAE Systems, Govan
    May 27 2024

    This episode was recorded just outside BAE systems in Govan, Glasgow, on a quiet, unassuming - but slightly windy - residential street.

    The day before I recorded, people protested outside to try and stop the manufacture and sale of weapons and other military technology by the British Company. BAE make Machines, bombs, and computerised hardware and software built with the aim of surveilling or killing people. This technology earned BAE around £23bn of revenue in 2023.

    As I walked past, I could hear whirring and buzzing and clattering from inside the incredibly secure complex. In Glasgow, BAE mainly build Royal Navy Warships, some of which circle the Mediterranean outside Palestine. The sounds in the recording, then, are created by the processes of building fleets of floating, weaponised assets of war. A low-key ambience of state violence, the rumblings of which are indistinguishable, for me, from their intended outcome - death and destruction.

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    12 mins
  • Take 5: Barcelona street corner
    May 26 2024

    It's 12:45 and 22 degrees on the 13th May. It doesn't seem that warm when you read it like that, but you and your mate have been walking around with your luggage for the best part of an hour, hungry, waiting to stumble on the perfect place to have the final proper meal in Barcelona. After walking past a couple of places that don't seem quite right, you spot two seats in dappled sunlight that beckon you over. The perfect place to sit down for a few minutes and look for food on Google Maps. You feel the weight lift from your feet and back as you sit down and. You decide to simply listen to the world go by.

    Location: 41°22'56.9"N 2°11'24.0"E

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    5 mins
  • Reverberations of the Clyde Tunnel Walkway, Glasgow
    May 24 2024

    Stopped to record the sound of cars heard through the echoic Clyde Tunnel Walkway. Decided to bring out the Lom Geofón to record the reverberations through the metal railings, adding a lovely tense drone. Recorded in 3 different locations and mixed together.

    www.georgepowell.online

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    9 mins
  • Anfield: Jürgen Klopp's Last Game
    May 19 2024

    A mixture of a walkabout, asking fans their first memories and how they feel about Klopp leaving, as well as catching the singing of You'll Never Walk Alone at the start of the match.

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    10 mins
  • Take 5: Car wash in Eccles
    May 15 2024

    Recorded binaurally in a Morrisons Car Wash in Eccles. Headphones highly recommended.

    'Take 5' episodes are short and to the point: sit down, close your eyes, and imagine you're somewhere else for a bit.

    Picture copyright Google 2023.

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    6 mins