Battery Ida

If you’ve ever walked by the corner of Westminster and Newkirk, you’ve probably seen Ida, who lives in the building at 570 Westminster and who regularly sits outside in a lawn chair. Residents of the building know she also likes to sing in the cavernous hallways.

One of those neighbors, Rob Viola, aka statikluft, has heard her singing, and was inspired to make something new with it. He created “Battery Ida” using a recording of Ida singing in the halls, and another recording of a drummer playing at Castle Clinton in Battery Park. He explains that the hooks and vocal samples were built into keyboard sounds–it’s really pretty amazing.