The Disintegration Loops
{{Short description|2002–03 box set by William Basinski}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The Disintegration Loops
| type = studio
| artist = William Basinski
| cover = DisLoop 1.jpg
| alt =
| released = 2002–2003
| recorded = 1982, August – September 11, 2001{{cite web |url=http://www.nthposition.com/thedisintegrationloops.php |title='The disintegration loops' by William Basinski |publisher=Nth Position |author=Ian Simmons |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413050635/http://www.nthposition.com/thedisintegrationloops.php |archivedate=2009-04-13 }}
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Tape music, ambient, drone
| length = 74:28 (I)
74:27 (II)
72:28 (III)
74:26 (IV)
295:49 (I-IV)
| label = 2062
| producer =
| prev_title = Watermusic
| prev_year = 2000
| next_title = The River
| next_year = 2002
}}
The Disintegration Loops is a series of four albums by the American avant-garde composer William Basinski, released in 2002 and 2003.[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/10/looped The Sound of Decay|The New Yorker] The albums comprise tape loop recordings played for extended time, with noise and cracks increasing as the tape deteriorated. Basinski discovered the effect while attempting to transfer his earlier recordings to digital format.
The completion of the recording coincided with the September 11 attacks, which Basinski witnessed from his rooftop in Brooklyn; the artwork features Basinski's footage of the New York City skyline in the aftermath of the World Trade Center's collapse. He dedicated the music to the victims of the attacks.{{cite book|last1=Stubbs|first1=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oa0wtAEACAAJ|title=Future Sounds: The Story of Electronic Music from Stockhausen to Skrillex|date=2018|publisher=Faber & Faber|location=London|page=352|isbn=9780571346974 |accessdate=16 May 2019}}
The Disintegration Loops gathered critical acclaim. It was initially released in four parts, and was reissued in 2012 on its tenth anniversary as a nine-LP box set. Two orchestral renditions have also been performed and were included in the reissue.
Background and recording
In the 1980s, Basinski recorded from found sound sources, shortwave radio and delay systems, influenced by musicians such as Steve Reich and Brian Eno. Decades later, while transferring the recordings from magnetic tape to digital format, Basinski found that the tape had deteriorated; as it passed the tape head, the ferrite detached from the plastic backing. He allowed the loops to play for extended periods as they deteriorated further, with increasing gaps and cracks in the music. He further treated the sounds with a spatializing reverb effect.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/7391 |title=Dusted Reviews |access-date=2015-02-25 |archive-date=2013-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521234247/http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/7391 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |title=Mixcloud |url=https://www.mixcloud.com/archivioricordi/the-music-folder-2-william-basinski/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=www.mixcloud.com}}
Basinski finished the project the morning of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, and sat on the roof of his apartment building in Brooklyn with friends as the World Trade Center collapsed. He filmed the fallout during the last hour of daylight from a roof, and the following morning he played "Disintegration Loop 1.1" as a soundtrack to the aftermath. Stills from the video were used as the covers for the set of four CDs, and several weeks later Basinski dedicated the work to the victims in a postscript in the liner notes. He said that "the events gave new meaning to the musical pieces created by catastrophic decay in my studio a few weeks before."
Music
The Disintegration Loops has a long runtime, and is composed of what are described as "repeated snippets." According to Matthew Schnipper of Pitchfork, "you hear the piece fall apart, literally." Basinski said in 2011: "I’m recording the life and death of a melody. It just made me think of human beings, you know, and how we die."{{Cite web |last=Pitchfork |date=2016-09-26 |title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
Reception and legacy
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = Pitchfork
|rev1score = 9.4/10 {{small|(2004)}}{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/577-the-disintegration-loops-i-iv/|title=William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops I–IV|work=Pitchfork|date=April 8, 2004|accessdate=June 11, 2019|last=Tangari|first=Joe}}
10/10 {{small|(2012)}}{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17064-the-disintegration-loops/|title=William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops|work=Pitchfork|date=November 19, 2012|accessdate=June 11, 2019|last=Richardson|first=Mark}}
|rev2 = Spectrum Culture
|rev2score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2012/12/10/william-basinski-the-disintegration-loops/|title=William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops|work=Spectrum Culture|date=December 10, 2012|accessdate=July 1, 2019|last=Coleman|first=Rodger}}
|rev3 = Stylus Magazine
|rev3score = A+{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=1691|title=William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops – Review|work=Stylus Magazine|date=February 2, 2004|accessdate=June 11, 2019|last=Heumann|first=Michael|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117004014/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=1691|archivedate=January 17, 2008}}
}}
Pitchfork named The Disintegration Loops I–IV the 30th-best album of 2004{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5934-top-50-albums-of-2004/3/|work=Pitchfork|author=Pitchfork staff|title=Top 50 Albums of 2004|date=December 31, 2004|accessdate=September 11, 2010|page=3}} and the 196th-best album of the 2000s.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/|work=Pitchfork|author=Pitchfork staff|title=The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s|date=September 28, 2009|accessdate=October 1, 2009|page=1}} In 2016, Pitchfork named it the third-best ambient record of all time.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=5|work=Pitchfork|author=Pitchfork staff|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time|date=September 26, 2016|accessdate=September 26, 2016|page=5}} It was named the 86th best album of the decade by Resident Advisor,{{cite web|url=http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1144|title=Top 100 albums of the '00s|date=January 25, 2010|work=Resident Advisor|accessdate=March 19, 2010}} and the 10th best by Tiny Mix Tapes.{{cite web|url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/favorite-100-albums-2000-2009-20-01|work=Tiny Mix Tapes|author=TMT staff|title=Favorite 100 Albums of 2000-2009: 20–01|date=February 12, 2010|accessdate=October 9, 2010}}
On September 11, 2011, Basinski's work was performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as a live orchestration to mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.{{cite web|url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/william-basinskis-disintegration-loops-nyc-performance-be-webcast-today|title=William Basinski's Disintegration Loops NYC performance to be webcast today|author=Squeo|date=September 11, 2011|work=Tiny Mix Tapes|accessdate=September 11, 2011}}
In 2022, Basinski's work served as the soundscape of Lashing Skies, a 45-minute immersive journey of five fictional stories unfolding amidst the events of September 11. The artwork, exhibited at Centre Phi in Montreal, was designed and directed by multidisciplinary artist Brigitte Poupart.[https://phi.ca/en/events/lashing-skies/ Lashing Skies|A poetic audio immersion|Centre PHI]
=2012 reissue=
On September 4, 2012, New York-based record label Temporary Residence reissued the entire Disintegration Loops as a nine-LP box set, marking the project's 10-year anniversary and its impending induction into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.[http://pitchfork.com/news/47405-temporary-residence-to-release-vinyl-box-set-for-william-basinskis-disintegration-loops-series/ Temporary Residence to Release Vinyl Box Set for William Basinski's Disintegration Loops Series|Pitchfork] The collection, which was remastered, was released in a limited edition of 2,000 copies, with a 5xCD version, 63-minute DVD, and 144-page coffee table book with photos and liner notes by Basinski, Antony, David Tibet, Ronen Givony and Michael Shulan.
Track listing
{{Track listing
|headline = The Disintegration Loops
|title1 = dlp 1.1
|length1 = 63:33
|title2 = dlp 2.1
|length2 = 10:55
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = The Disintegration Loops II
|title1 = dlp 2.2
|length1 = 32:37
|title2 = dlp 3
|length2 = 41:50
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = The Disintegration Loops III
|title1 = dlp 4
|length1 = 20:07
|title2 = dlp 5
|length2 = 52:21
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = The Disintegration Loops IV
|title1 = dlp 6
|length1 = 40:36
|title2 = dlp 1.2
|length2 = 21:50
|title3 = dlp 1.3
|length3 = 12:00
}}
See also
- List of ambient music artists
- Minimalist music
- Magnetic tape
- Everywhere at the End of Time, often compared to The Disintegration Loops
References
{{reflist|2}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Benzon |first1=Paul |title=Archival Time, Absent Time: On William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops |journal=Media–N: Journal of the New Media Caucus |volume=11 |issue=1 |date=2015 |url=http://median.newmediacaucus.org/the_aesthetics_of_erasure/the-disintegration-loops/ |language=en-US |issn=1942-017X |df=mdy-all |isbn=9781329113251 |pages=82–84 }}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{Discogs release|75994|Disintegration Loops|type=album}}
- {{Discogs release|118447|Disintegration Loops II|type=album}}
- {{Discogs release|265427|Disintegration Loops III|type=album}}
- {{Discogs release|265430|Disintegration Loops IV|type=album}}
- [https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-disintegration-loops-mw0002140738 AllMusic]
- [https://www.amazon.com/Disintegration-Loops-Remastered-William-Basinski/dp/B00ML30H8Y/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=78683804738271&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=the+disintegration+loops&qid=1571870730&sr=8-1 Amazon.com]
- [https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/11/12/164978574/divinity-from-dust-the-healing-power-of-the-disintegration-loops NPR article about the album]
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Category:William Basinski albums
Category:Music about the September 11 attacks