What if the city of Vienna could be played as if it were a vinyl record? If the city could be cut out along the Ringstrasse and placed on an impossibly large turntable – what sounds would be revealed?
This recording takes these daydreams a few steps farther. Using a simple, custom built device, an all-terrain stylus traces the topographies of the inner city. A spiralling trajectory winds its way from the quiet edge of the Donaukanal to the centre pin of the Pestsäule. The needle of stylus passing over the ground, transforming micro-textures into sound.
This recorded material was then mastered and cut into a blank vinyl record by local artist Dieb13. For Kunstradio, field recordings from each location in the city announce the start of a new track on the record as it spins towards the centre.
© 2019 Douglas Moffat