'This is Vladimir': A Soundscape from Abkhazia

I've uploaded a soundscape which I mixed using material recorded during a trip to the disputed Black Sea region of Abkhazia in August. It isn't exactly reportage, nor exactly musique concrete either. It features natural sounds from the Abkhaz coast, the voices of soldiers, a government official, and an Abkhaz mother who named her newborn son after Vladimir Putin. It's an attempt to convey some of the atmosphere of this beautiful, troubled territory at a specific moment in time, without any commentary or journalistic voiceover.

You can listen to it or download it here.

Thanks are due to my fellow blogger Guy Degen - the original audio was recorded on his camera - and to photographer Justyna Mielnikiewicz, who also worked with me on the trip to Abkhazia. (The photo above shows a young Russian tourist posing as an Abkhaz warrior for a photo at a seaside resort; I'm sure the tourist lad had no idea of the irony...)