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William Basinski

Profile

William Basinski (1958) is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over forty years in NYC and California. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life and resound with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time. His masterwork, The Disintegration Loops received international critical acclaim and was chosen as one of the top 50 albums of 2004 by Pitchfork Media. The Temporary Residence deluxe LP box-set reissue from 2012 was awarded best re-issue of the year and a score of 10 on Pitchfork. Orchestral transcriptions of The Disintegration Loops by Maxim Moston, as well as installations and films made in collaboration with artist-filmmaker, James Elaine have been presented in festivals and museums internationally, and his concerts are presented to sold out crowds around the world. Basinski was chosen by Music Director, ANOHNI to create music for the Robert Wilson opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramović (Holland Festival 2012). In 2020, Basinski and Preston Wendel released a surprise new jazzy record under the name SPARKLE DIVISION. Their new album, FOXY!, with new member Gary Thomas Wright, will be released in 2023.

  • © James Elaine

Recent work

2020 Lamentations 

2022 …on reflection with British sound artist Janek Schaefer 

2023 A new cover version of David Bowie's Subterraneans with Alva Noto and Martin L. Gore

2023 The Clocktower At The Beach 

Past events

  1. 2023

    music |Gerrit van der Veenstraat
  2. 2012

    theatre |Koninklijk Theater Carré