At the project’s completion, all collected recordings were to be played back in quadrophonic sound at the Central Subway Station in Valencia, Spain. I don’t know if that listening session ever came to fruition, as many experimental projects live and die faster than the lifespan of some microscopic organisms, but Audiotalia seems like a pretty reliable presence to pull this off. While the recording is available for free download, the version I’m reviewing is a self-released 3” CD-R, limited to 15 copies.

The packaging and art is very minimal on this little disc. The fold over cover features simple black and white graphics with 3 lines depicting train tracks. The CD-R includes a subway ticket, which unfortunately must have missed my copy.

Subway Budapest is, as the title implies, a recording of a Hungarian subway system. Running at a slim 11:41, this single track captures a day in the life of a subway station combining both raw audio and some overt manipulation. I’ve become quite fond of these audio documentaries that elevate the mundanities of life to an artform. They have the capacity to take us to another place and time, walk in another person’s shoes and go on far away adventures, often more vividly than a photography book ever could. Subway Budapest is another meritorious effort in this tradition, made accessible by labels such as Gruenrekorder.

In exceptional clarity, Garai captures all the sounds you would expect to find in this environment: trains passing, heels hitting concrete, voices, exhaust, conductor announcements over a PA, and hollow ringing through underground tunnels. To be sure, this recording is not all raw sounds. At 2:04 there’s some unnerving glass shattering, which may or may not have been added for effect, and some winding and buzzing electronic sounds that pepper the track. At 8 minutes in, manipulations take full effect on the piece with the recording being warped and warbled. Despite the effects changing the character of the sounds, I never once feel like I’ve left the environment the Garai is toiling in. As the tracks ends, we leave where we began as moving trains recede into the sound of hard soled shoes hitting the pavement.

Subway Budapest is a short, but sweet excursion into a slice of Hungarian life. A snapshot expertly captured by Garai’s acute ear. Ticket please!