BASINSKI, WILLIAM — Disintegration loops 1
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Zwei Stücke mit alten pastoralen loops aus Basinkis Archiv (1982), die während des Abspielen quasi „zerfallen“ sind und eine ganz besondere Bedeutung haben.. erinnert an JACKMAN’s orchestrale endlos-loops.. hat eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre..
“...In late 2001, he was reviewing old tapes and came across a pastoral composition from 1982 which he had completely forgotten about. Intending to transfer it to digital format for preservation, he set the old tapes running, but time is not kind to magnetic tape and decay had fatally undermined their stability. As they played, fragments of iron oxide spalled off the tape's surface and became dust, gradually, but progressively, breaking down the music into a ghost of its former self, becoming ever more fragmented as the recording progressed. Almost simultaneously, within view of Bassinski's apartment, the appalling events of 11 September were unfolding. In the collapsing loops, he saw their reflection, and the music became a requiem for the twin towers. And very fitting it is, too, a gently shifting cavernous drone, becoming more blurred and fragmented as the tape self-destructs in front of us, sombre and dignified, a beautiful epic of romantic decay. It is for good reason that for the cover, Bassinski had himself photographed in the guise of doomed Romantic poet Chatterton. Coincidentally, Disintegration Loops has strong similarities to another piece of music marking an epoch-defining disaster, Gavin Bryar's Sinking of the Titanic. The two pieces share a tonal quality and minimal palette, although Titanic is ultimately the more complex.”[Ian Simmons, nthposition.com]
“...In late 2001, he was reviewing old tapes and came across a pastoral composition from 1982 which he had completely forgotten about. Intending to transfer it to digital format for preservation, he set the old tapes running, but time is not kind to magnetic tape and decay had fatally undermined their stability. As they played, fragments of iron oxide spalled off the tape's surface and became dust, gradually, but progressively, breaking down the music into a ghost of its former self, becoming ever more fragmented as the recording progressed. Almost simultaneously, within view of Bassinski's apartment, the appalling events of 11 September were unfolding. In the collapsing loops, he saw their reflection, and the music became a requiem for the twin towers. And very fitting it is, too, a gently shifting cavernous drone, becoming more blurred and fragmented as the tape self-destructs in front of us, sombre and dignified, a beautiful epic of romantic decay. It is for good reason that for the cover, Bassinski had himself photographed in the guise of doomed Romantic poet Chatterton. Coincidentally, Disintegration Loops has strong similarities to another piece of music marking an epoch-defining disaster, Gavin Bryar's Sinking of the Titanic. The two pieces share a tonal quality and minimal palette, although Titanic is ultimately the more complex.”[Ian Simmons, nthposition.com]