The Disintegration Loops
The Disintegration Loops (German in about: tape loops of decay ) is a concept album by the American sound artist William Basinski and was released in 2002 on his own label 2062 Records. It is the first of four parts of the series Disintegration Loops.
Genesis
The recordings were made to rescue from decay in experiments, magnetic tape recordings from 1982 through its digitization in the summer and autumn of 2001. Due to wear and tear the ferrites dissolved during playback ( the magnetic layer of the bands fell apart ). Basinski indicates that he had finished the project on the morning of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and then sat with friends on his roof, and heard the entire day on the shoot while before them the towers collapsed.
The whole album ( as well as the other parts of the series ) consists of two loops that are gradually more indistinct and fall into one another acoustically.
Reception
The online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed The Disintegration Loops at # 30 its list of the 50 best albums of the year 2004 and ranked # 194 of the 200 best albums of the 2000s. In the original review of the album, the album gained a ( for ambient albums unusually ) high rating of 9.4 / 10.0 points.
The online Musikagazin for Electronic Independents Resident Advisor put the album at # 86 of the 100 best albums of the decade, the online music magazine Tiny Mix Tapes ranked # 10 of the 100 best albums of the decade.