William Basinski – The tragic story of The Disintegration Loops

 

William James Basinski (25.06.1958) was born in Houston, Texas and is a well-known Avantgarde composer. His probably best-known album is The Disintegration Loops, which consists of a total of 4 albums (The Disintegration Loops, The Disintegration Loops II, The Disintegration Loops III, and The Disintegration Loops IV). The Disintegration Loops that I listened to was The Disintegration Loops II (dlp 3). While I did some research on Basinski and his work, I was really touched by the story and what The Disintegration Loops was dedicated to. The specialty of this album was that it came about unintentionally when Basinski tried to digitalize his earlier tape loops. However, during playback, the magnetic layer detached from the tape, and a process of self-destruction ensued. He then recorded this self-destruction in his studio in Brooklyn. The tragic thing about the whole story is that this form of self-destruction also happened during 9/11 with the Twin Tower buildings. This album was then dedicated to the victims of the attacks. Also, on the album cover, you can see, although not quite sharply, a city and a column of smoke. I found it particularly sad that both 9/11 and The Disintegration Loops follow a similar pattern of destruction. In the beginning, I was not able to notice any destruction at all in the “song”. I was only able to hear the repeated patterns of the “song”. After a while, cracks appeared on the facade and I slowly started to hear the “murmur” that should not be there. Before I read up on the history of this album, the melody of The Disintegration Loops struck me as it was very tense and also dreary. It sounded to me like something terrible was about to happen or if someone was about to give bad news. Additionally, the noises that I could not identify in the background sounded like bomb attacks. I think this sound would have also fitted into a war film in which the battle was shot in slow motion while this sound has been played in the background. Here, I found the repetitions in no case monotonous but rather appropriate. To be more specific, I think these repetitions helped to make this tune even more dramatic. I also found that The Disintegration Loops was able to represent the course of life in a very fitting way. At the beginning of life, we are children and, so to speak, without “quirks”. In the course of life, we ​​form into an individual, however, this often leaves behind “scars” of the lessons that we have learned. After that, we grow old and weak and pass away, as does the song. To recap: I found The Disintegration Loops extremely fascinating. I especially liked the story behind it. It was easy for me to listen and empathize with it. In itself, the song was really uncomplicated, and I was able to concentrate while listening to it, unlike with John Oswald´s “Plexure”. I would recommend listening to this album and especially getting into the background story; this helps to “feel” the music.