William Basinski Explained

William Basinski
Birth Date:June 25, 1958
Birth Place:Houston, Texas, U.S.
Years Active:1978–present
Current Member Of:Sparkle Division

William James Basinski[1] (born June 25, 1958) is an American avant-garde composer based in Los Angeles, California.[2] He is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist.[3]

Basinski is best known for his four-volume album The Disintegration Loops (2002–2003), constructed from gradually decaying twenty-year-old tapes of his earlier music.[4]

Biography

Early life

William James Basinski was born in 1958 in Houston, Texas.[5] He was raised in a Catholic family,[6] and states that he had his first "really mystical, wonderful, magical" musical experiences as an infant at Houston's St. Anne Church.[5] His father was a scientist contracted to NASA, which caused the family to move often. Basinski says he knew that he was gay from an early age.[5]

A classically trained clarinetist, Basinski studied jazz saxophone and composition at the University of North Texas in the late 1970s. In 1978, inspired by minimalists such as Steve Reich and Brian Eno,[7] he began developing his own vocabulary using tape loops and old reel-to-reel tape decks.[8] He developed his meditative, melancholy style experimenting with short looped melodies played against themselves creating feedback loops.

Career

His first release was Shortwavemusic. Although created in 1983, it was first released on vinyl in a small edition in 1998 by Carsten Nicolai's Raster-Noton sub-label. This was followed by Watermusic, self-released in 2000 on Basinski's 2062 Records. Another 2-disc work was Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive, 1980: it was finally released in 2004 by David Tibet on the Durtro/Die Stadt label. At the time this work was created, Basinski was experimenting with compositions for piano and tape loops.

Throughout the 1980s, Basinski created a vast archive of experimental works using tape loop and delay systems, found sounds, and shortwave radio static. He was a member of many bands including Gretchen Langheld Ensemble and House Afire. In 1989, he opened his own performance space, "Arcadia" at 118 N. 11th Street.[9] On one occasion, he opened for David Bowie, playing saxophone with rockabilly band The Rockats.[5] Basinski would later dedicate a track from A Shadow in Time to Bowie.

In August and September 2001, he set to work on what would become his most recognizable piece, the four-volume album The Disintegration Loops. The recordings were based on old tape loops which had degraded in quality. While attempting to salvage the recordings in a digital format, the tapes slowly crumbled and left a timestamp history of their demise.[10] [11] [12] [13]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Film scores

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A RING OF SMOKE . ASCAP . American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . April 26, 2023.
  2. Web site: William Basinski at Bandcamp. May 17, 2022.
  3. Web site: William Basinski | Biography & History. AllMusic.
  4. Web site: William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops. Dusted Magazine. Marc. Medwin. October 1, 2012.
  5. Web site: 'I wanted to be David Bowie': music maverick William Basinski. Ben. Beaumont-Thomas. The Guardian. April 10, 2019.
  6. Web site: Divinity From Dust: The Healing Power Of 'The Disintegration Loops'. Lars. Gotrich. NPR. November 15, 2012.
  7. Web site: Catalano. Nicola. William Basinski + Richard Chartier interview. spekk. July 17, 2012. 2004.
  8. Web site: Beta . Andy . 2021-08-15 . Twenty Years Ago, William Basinski Witnessed 9/11—and Memorialized It in Music . 2023-11-26 . Texas Monthly . en.
  9. Web site: William Basinski. Flaunt. August 16, 2014.
  10. Web site: Tangari. Joe. The Disintegration Loops I-IV – Review. Pitchfork. July 27, 2011. April 8, 2004.
  11. Web site: Simmons. Ian. The Disintegration Loops – Review. nthposition. July 27, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090413050635/http://www.nthposition.com/thedisintegrationloops.php. April 13, 2009.
  12. Web site: Mason. James. Disintegration Loops 3 – Review. AllMusic. July 27, 2011.
  13. Levaux. Christophe. William Basinski, The Disintegration Loops. De l'érosion de l'espace sonore. L'antithèse totaliste. Revue et corrigée. 101. 2014. 24–27.
  14. Web site: William Basinski: Shortwave Music . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  15. Web site: William Basinski: The River . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  16. Web site: William Basinski: Melancholia . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  17. Web site: Reviews William Basinski . 2023-11-26 . The Quietus . en-us.
  18. Web site: 2008-05-10 . William Basinski + Richard Chartier :: Untitled 1-3 (Line) . 2023-11-26 . Igloo Magazine . en-US.
  19. Web site: 2005-02-15 . William Basinski: Silent Night / Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en.
  20. Web site: William Basinski: The Garden of Brokenness . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  21. Web site: William Basinski: Variations for Piano and Tape . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  22. Web site: William Basinski: 92982 . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  23. Web site: Fact . 2010-01-29 . William Basinski: Vivian & Ondine . 2023-11-26 . Fact Magazine . en-US.
  24. Web site: Music Review: William Basinski - Aurora Liminalis . 2023-11-26 . Tiny Mix Tapes . en.
  25. Web site: William Basinski: Nocturnes . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  26. Web site: Music Review: William Basinski - Nocturnes . 2023-11-26 . Tiny Mix Tapes . en.
  27. Web site: William Basinski: Cascade / The Deluge . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  28. Web site: The Quietus Reviews William Basinski . 2023-11-26 . The Quietus . en-us.
  29. Web site: 2015-08-07 . Album Review: William Basinski - Cascade/The Deluge . 2023-11-26 . DrownedInSound . en.
  30. Web site: 2015-12-12 . William Basinski & Richard Chartier :: Divertissment (Important) . 2023-11-26 . Igloo Magazine . en-US.
  31. News: Mongredien . Phil . 2017-01-22 . A Shadow in Time: William Basinski review – multilayered and hypnotic . en-GB . The Observer . 2023-11-26 . 0029-7712.
  32. Web site: 2018-10-12 . Album Review: William Basinski & Lawrence English - Selva Oscura . 2023-11-26 . DrownedInSound . en.
  33. Web site: William Basinski / Lawrence English: Selva Oscura . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  34. Web site: 2019-03-08 . Album Review: William Basinski - On Time Out of Time . 2023-11-26 . DrownedInSound . en.
  35. Web site: William Basinski continues to explore new possibilities on rewarding new LP . 2023-11-26 . The Line of Best Fit . en-US.
  36. Web site: 2020-03-21 . William Basinski Releases New Album Hymns of Oblivion . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  37. Web site: William Basinski: Lamentations . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  38. Web site: William Basinski / Janek Schaefer: . . . On Reflection . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  39. Web site: William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops . 2023-11-26 . Pitchfork . en-US.

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