William Basinski (born June 25, 1958) is an American

avant-garde composer Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...

based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baermann * ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...

ist, and

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...

ist. Basinski is best known for his four-volume album ''

The Disintegration Loops ''The Disintegration Loops'' is a series of four albums by the American avant-garde composer William Basinski, released in 2002 and 2003. The albums comprise tape loop recordings played for extended time, with noise and cracks increasing as the ta ...

'' (2002–2003), constructed from rapidly decaying twenty-year-old tapes of his earlier music.

Biography

Early life

William James Basinski was born in 1958 in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. He was raised in a Catholic family, and states that he had his first "really mystical, wonderful, magical" musical experiences as an infant at Houston's St. Anne Church. His father was a scientist contracted to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, which caused the family to move often. Basinski says he knew that he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

from an early age. A classically trained clarinetist, Basinski studied jazz saxophone and composition at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

in the late 1970s. In 1978, inspired by minimalists such as

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

, he began developing his own vocabulary using tape loops and old

reel-to-reel tape Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

decks. He developed his meditative, melancholy style experimenting with short looped melodies played against themselves creating

feedback loops Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

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 Carsten Nicolai (18 September 1965), also known as Alva Noto, is a German musician and visual artist. He is a member of the music groups Diamond Version with Olaf Bender (Byetone), Signal with Frank Bretschneider and Olaf Bender, Cyclo with Ryoj ...

Raster-Noton Raster-Noton was a German electronic music record label. It was established in 1999 in Chemnitz, Germany. It emerged from the fusion of Rastermusik, founded by Olaf Bender and Frank Bretschneider in 1996, and Noton (''Archiv für Ton und Nich ...

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 David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he a ...

on the

Durtro Durtro was a British independent record label established by the British poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist David Tibet in 1988, to publish his own work and that of fellow friends and musicians. It was replaced by one of Tibet's earli ...

/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. On one occasion, he opened for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, playing saxophone with rockabilly band The Rockats. 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 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.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Shortwavemusic'' (1998,

) * ''Watermusic'' (2000, 2062) * ''

'' (2002, 2062) * ''The River'' (2002, Raster-Noton) * '' The Disintegration Loops II'' (2003, 2062) * ''Watermusic II'' (2003, 2062) * ''Melancholia'' (2003, 2062) * '' The Disintegration Loops III'' (2003, 2062) * ''A Red Score in Tile'' (2003, Three Poplars) * '' The Disintegration Loops IV'' (2003, 2062) * ''Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive'' (2004,

/Die Stadt) * ''Untitled'' (2004, Spekk) * ''Silent Night '' (2004, 2062) * ''The Garden of Brokenness'' (2006, 2062) * ''Variations for Piano and Tape'' (2006, 2062) * ''El Camino Real'' (2007, 2062) * ''92982'' (2009, 2062) * ''Vivian & Ondine'' (2009, 2062) * ''Aurora Liminalis'' (2013, Line) * ''Nocturnes'' (2013, 2062) * ''

Cascade Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science *Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls * Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex) * Cascade (grape), a type of fruit * Bioc ...

'' (2015, 2062) * ''The Deluge'' (2015, 2062) * ''Divertissement'' (2015, Important Records) * '' A Shadow in Time'' (2017, 2062) * ''Selva Oscura'' (2018,

Temporary Residence Limited Temporary Residence Limited (shortened TRL) is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Louisville, Kentucky in 1996 by Jeremy DeVine, and initially concentrated on releasing music by Louisville-based bands.

) * '' On Time Out of Time'' (2019, Temporary Residence Limited) *''Hymns of Oblivion'' (2020, self-released) * ''Lamentations'' (2020, Temporary Residence Limited) * ''" . . . on reflection "'' (2022,

)

Compilation albums

* ''The Disintegration Loops'' (2012, Temporary Residence Limited)

Film scores

*'' Pursuit of Loneliness'' (2012)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basinski, William 1958 births Ambient musicians Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers LGBT composers University of North Texas College of Music alumni Musicians from Houston 21st-century American male musicians Temporary Residence Limited artists