London Sound Survey

London Sound Survey is exactly what it says it is - 'Recordings of background atmospheres and incidental noises from all over London'. Thrill to the sound of the traffic on the New Cross Road (recorded in St James), gasp at the slightly different traffic sound on Shooters Hill Road, wonder at the bird song and man coughing on Kilmorie Road, Forest Hill. There's fruit and veg sellers on Woolwich Market, Saxon Sound System at Notting Hill Carnival and Millwall fans (home game against Stockport, 2008). It's the quality of these stereo recordings that give it the edge - listening to it on headphones I found myself turning round looking for the sound source.

There's also a nice history section, with descriptions of lost London soundscapes, such as this from Samuel Pepys on Rotherhithe: 'so we took boat, and it being darke and the thaw having broke the ice, but not carried it quite away, the boat did pass through so much of it all along, and that with the crackling and noise that it made me fearfull indeed'.