Apr 12: Bands and football shirts

A posting from a while back on Facebook explored the connection with sport and music, with a share of some outputs from a Twitter account called @_Bands_FC 

It was shared on a Facebook page called Periodic table of Synthpop.

The post led to lots of replies with some examples of actual shirts.

e.g. this one...

What are your favourites?

A future post explores the walk-out music of football teams...

Feb 17: Noise from Iceland

A cross posting from my Fieldnotes from Iceland blog.

I like this project very much.

It's beautifully put together, and provides a different dimension to the country.

The creator has interviewed people for the project.

Here's one exchange:

Kaśka Paluch:
What does Iceland sound like to you? If you had to choose just one sound that defines it?

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir:
Wind. Definitely wind. I live by the ocean, and wind is the constant background noise. And the sound of waves too, though that depends a lot on the wind. But those two things—wind and the ocean—define the soundscape here for me.

Kaśka Paluch is a musicologist, music journalist, sound artist, and educator, and the creator of Noise From Iceland—the first-ever sound map of Iceland. Originally from Zakopane, Poland, she studied musicology at Jagiellonian University and has published in Onet.pl, Tygodnik Powszechny, Noisey, LAIF, and Presto.

Click the blue circles to hear the recorded sounds e.g. Solheimajökull.

The sound was recorded at the glacier's face. The lake was just defrosting, and the crushed pieces of ice bumping against each other made a sound like wind chimes.

There's also a Spotify playlist...

Check out the album 'Ey' and the track 'Cryo'

Well worth exploring this... a separate blog post is coming...

I might try recording some of my own sounds on my next visit. This is a project which you could ask students to complete while in the country.

From the Bandcamp site of Kaśka.

After creating a first sound map of Iceland in history - www.noisefromiceland.com - the Noise From Iceland project has been released on an album basis. These are field recordings from the island with trance and techno music composed to them. In total, almost an hour of noise - volcano, lava, waterfalls, Icelandic animals and rivers - selected to engage the listener's ear as much as possible. - The sound does not have to be clear, but it has to be interesting - says the author, Kaśka Paluch - my guru of field recordings, Geir Jenssen once told me and this thought was my motto while working on this album.

Noise From Iceland has been created since January 2020. It is an attempt to answer the question: what does Iceland sound like? Proving that apart from beautiful pictures, this majestic land of fire and ice has a lot to offer also to other senses.  

The motive for starting work on the sound map of Iceland was a meeting with a blind tourist who was on my trip when I was working as a guide - explains Kaśka Paluch - It was she who told me how much there is to know in Iceland, even when you cannot see it.

Feb 2: Tube Map of Music

The classic Underground map of Harry Beck has been appropriated for all sorts of things over the years. 

One of the first high profile examples was a project called 'The Great Bear' which was produced in 1992 by Simon Patterson.

A copy is in the Tate collection.

In February 2006, Guardian Music writer Dorian Lynskey reimagined each Tube line as a musical genre, and each station as an artist.

Every intersection provides an opportunity to celebrate those who mix and transcend musical styles.

For example, where the Pop (Circle), Rock (District) and Reggae (Central) lines intersect, you find The Specials (at Notting Hill Gate). Or at the junction of Funk (Victoria) and Blues & Country (Piccadilly), one finds James Brown (at Finsbury Park).

Dorian Lynskey said: "The different character of each line lent itself to a certain genre.

"Pop, for example, intersects with everything else so that had to be the Circle line. On the other hand, classical music tends to occupy its own sphere, which made it perfect for the Docklands Light Railway."

Source

A version of this: Going Underground is available online from 'The Northern Line'

In May 2025, this was brought up to date, with a new map which was produced by Transport for London (TfL) to help celebrate its 25th anniversary, and described as follows.

Introducing the Grassroots Music Tube Map, a one-of-a-kind visual celebration of the venues, artists, genres, and communities that make London one of the greatest music cities in the world.

This campaign is part of London Creates MUSIC, a powerful initiative bringing together music industry leaders, artists and cultural partners to shine a light on grassroots music and the vital role it plays in our city’s creative and economic life.

Designed to resemble a network of electric cables with a sleek black background, each line has been rebranded to celebrate a different part of the capital’s vibrant music culture:

Bakerloo line: Iconic songs
Central line: Genres that define the city
District line: 25 artists to watch in 2025
Jubilee line: Groundbreaking albums
Metropolitan line: Independent record labels
Northern line: Legendary artists
Piccadilly line: Rising stars
Victoria line: Music subcultures that shaped scenes

Alongside this are 25 grassroots music venues, 25 legendary nightclubs, and 25 beloved record shops. These are all mapped out and celebrated as essential landmarks in London’s music journey.

It was displayed at Outernet for a while...

And another version was made to commemorate Taylor Swift's visit to London on her ERAS tour.

Have I missed any other similar projects?

Has this been done for the metro / tube / underground lines in other cities, whether in the UK or elsewhere? I'm guessing it has been...