A privilege to be alive on Fair Isle

Cheryl Tipp, Curator of Wildlife & Environmental Sounds, writes: It may come as little surprise, but wildlife sound recordists are usually absent from their recordings. It makes perfect sense, of course; the primary aim of these recordings is to capture the vocalisations of a particular animal or the collective sounds…

Recording of the week: turning down Vincent van Gogh’s sunflowers

This week’s selection comes from Camille Johnston, Oral History Assistant Archivist. In his life story recording the artist Michael Rothenstein related a remarkable story about an encounter between his teacher A. S. Hartrick and the artist Vincent van Gogh. Michael Rothenstein (1908-1993) was a painter, printmaker, and teacher. He taught…

Black History Month: King Menelik and Queen Taytu’s phonograph message to Queen Victoria

Negusa Nagast (King of Kings) Menelik II of Ethiopia Guest blog by Eyob Derillo of the British Library Ethiopian collection The year 2019 marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of King Menelik II, one of Ethiopia’s most famous and influential monarchs. King Menelik and his wife Queen Taytu bequeathed…

AWATE’s Journey into the Past

AWATE joined the British Library this summer as Artist-in-Residence for Unlocking Our Sound Heritage, the British Library’s major project to digitally preserve and widely share the nation’s rare and at-risk sounds. During his five-month residency, AWATE will use the extensive sound archive to weave together a long-form genre-bending musical piece…

Recording of the week: Dr John interviewed by Charlie Gillett

This week’s selection comes from Andy Linehan, Curator of Popular Music. Charlie Gillett, in his later years best-known as a World Music broadcaster, spent many years investigating the roots of rock music. He hosted Honky-Tonk on BBC Radio London in the 1970s where many of his guests were influential figures…