I see this recording of a train reversing in a trainyard in Yangjiaping as a tribute to Pierre Schaeffer's first piece of musique concr

Before the hype, 50 Moganshan Lu was a collection of ramshackle warehouses that contained a handful of Shanghai's up-and-coming independent galleries. It was all very low-key, and the arts scene seemed to blend in effortlessly with the local population. This recording was made one late Saturday afternoon and I was taken by the serenity of the whole scenery: children playing, people singing while passing on their bicycles, birds chirping. A year later the place had been rebranded as M50, listed in tourist guides and building works were under way in every corner. These days, every square inch of usable space is occupied by galleries selling the latest in Chinese contemporary art, with art bookshops and art cafes providing the finishing touch.

The breakdown of law and order: May Day 2001, Tottenham Court Road in central London. Watched by police helicopters circling above, but with few police in the street, anti-capitalist rioters are roaming around almost freely, smashing the windows of banks and shops while cheering each other on, occassionally running from a handful of police officers.

One of the many arcade games at RueiFeng night market. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

A group of children from the local Bangladeshi community playing ball games in a side lane off Commercial Street on a Sunday afternoon. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

Balloons being filled with air, to be used in one of the shoot-em up stalls at RueiFeng night market. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

A blind woman sitting by a busy road with a microphone and a tambourine. She was mostly ignored by the few passersby, but I found the whole scene and her song incredibly poetic. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Surface.

At the time, Brixton station was a kind of micro-melting pot featuring a set of characters who collectively caused tumult and commotion on a daily basis. Some of them were known by names derived from the sounds they contributed to the local soundscape: the Biggie-Biggie man or the Incense man for example. These two were supported by an assortment of preachers from various Baptist and Pentecostal churches, market criers, ticket touts, Underground staff and others. Since the attempt at gentrifying the centre of Brixton things have become a lot less interesting. Leaving the station now, one is not greeted by the lively hustle and bustle, but by the sounds of cars and buses going past.

A pair of workers hurling glass shards onto a lorry with their shovels at night in central Shanghai. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.

The loop players looking a little like handheld radio receivers but which are preloaded with a set of loops of Buddhist chants can be found in temples all over Asia. Here an assortment of these playing simultaneously create a rather eerie atmosphere in Guangxiao temple. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.