This week’s recording of the week comes from Emma Burman, Learning and Engagement Coordinator. Having spent many a childhood holiday on Cromer Pier in Norfolk, you’d think I would know the sounds of the area well. However, having never been adventurous enough to fully submerge myself in the freezing East…

Hazem Jamjoum joined the British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership Project in April 2019 as Gulf History Audio Curator and Cataloguer. In this blog post he explores what record sleeves have helped him learn about the early 20th-century music industry in the Arab world. For some decades, the British Library’s sound…

This week’s selection comes from Michele Banal, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. The Kankurang is a Mandinka masked figure from the Senegambia region, associated with male societies and more specifically with boys’ initiation ceremonies. It is a protective figure and an enforcer of rules, but, as masked…

This week’s selection comes from Lucia Cavorsi, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. Between 1978 and 1994 the Institute of Contemporary Arts ran an annual series of contemporary music concerts called MusICA. Among the works programmed were those by Italian-born composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988). Little known and ostracised…

Many of us find comfort in the sounds of the sea, particularly when we’re feeling anxious, stressed or overwhelmed. Though it’s not as easy as it was to just pack up and head to the coast, there are still always in which you can bring the sea to you. The…