William James 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 eleme ...

based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

, saxophonist,

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

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. V ...

ist. 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.

Biography

Early life

William James Basinski was born in 1958 in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. 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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, which caused the family to move often. Basinski says he knew that he was gay 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 university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

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

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

and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, 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 (born 18 September 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, now Chemnitz) is a German artist, musician and label owner. As a musician he is known under the pseudonym Alva Noto. Life and career Carsten Nicolai was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Ch ...

Raster-Noton Raster-Noton was a German electronic music record label. It was established in 1999 in Chemnitz, Germany. By the mid 2010s, it had become known as "one of Europe’s most revered and reliable hubs for experimental electronic music, IDM and au ...

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 an English poet, artist and musician. He is best known for the musical group Current 93, which he founded and is the only consistent member of, along with his contributions to the b ...

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. On one occasion, he opened for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, playing saxophone with rockabilly band The Rockats. Basinski would later dedicate a track from ''

A Shadow in Time ''A Shadow in Time'' is an album by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. It was released on January 20, 2017, by 2062 Records and Temporary Residence Limited. Background and composition Basinski began writing the piece "A Shadow in T ...

'' 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.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Shortwavemusic'' (recorded in 1982, released in 1998,

) * ''Watermusic'' (released in 2001, 2062) * '' The Disintegration Loops'' (2002, 2062) * ''The River'' (recorded in 1983, released in 2002, Raster-Noton) * '' The Disintegration Loops II'' (2003, 2062) * '' The Disintegration Loops III'' (2003, 2062) * '' The Disintegration Loops IV'' (2003, 2062) * ''Watermusic II'' (released in 2003, 2062) * ''Melancholia'' (released in 2003, 2062) * ''A Red Score in Tile'' (1979, released in 2003, Three Poplars) * ''Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive'' (created in 1981, released in 2004, Durtro/Die Stadt) * ''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) * ''Nocturnes'' (2013, 2062) * ''

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

'' (2015, 2062) * ''The Deluge'' (2015, 2062) * ''

'' (2017, 2062) * '' On Time Out of Time'' (2019, Temporary Residence Limited) * ''Hymns of Oblivion'' (2020, self-released) * ''

Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ("Five Scrolls" ...

'' (2020, Temporary Residence Limited) * ''The Clocktower at the Beach (1979)'' (2023, Line) * ''September 23rd'' (2024, Temporary Residence Limited)

Collaborations

* ''Untitled'' (2004, Spekk) * ''Aurora Liminalis'' (2013, Line) * ''Divertissement'' (2015,

Important Records Important Records is an American independent record label based in Groveland, Massachusetts. History John Brien started Important Records in 2001 out of his Newburyport, Massachusetts apartment, initially as an online store. Important's first tw ...

) * ''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 reflection "'' (2022,

) * ''Aurora Terminalis'' (2025, Line)

Compilation albums

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

Film scores

* '' Pursuit of Loneliness'' (2012)

References

External links

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