On Time Out Of Time - William Basinski: Review
William Basinski
is an experimental, avant-garde music composer who has released a plethora of solo projects and collaborations surrounding ambient and experimental soundscapes. He is most well known for The Disintegration Tapes I-IV, a brilliant series of lopped ambient tracks that are deteriorating as they loop. This creates the brilliant artificial feeling of slowly slipping away and losing control that was otherwise untapped in electronic and ambient music.
Review By Lavender:
If you know me there is a good chance you've had to physically stop me from telling you everything I know about The Disintegration Loops. Basinski's masterpiece series are among my favorite experimental music pieces of all time. The physical destruction of the tapes, the album cover and its relationship to 9/11, its brilliant anniversary release, the unknown origin of the original tapes. Everything surrounding the tapes is brilliant and helps make them what they are, but listening to them as a single experience is an incredible musical moment that everyone should experience for themselves. He has tons of other albums, side projects and collaborations throughout his discography, many of which I've heard but not all. With a mind so fantastically original and coming off an excellent project with 2017's A Shadow In Time there is no reason to expect anything but greatness from William.
On Time Out Of Time is split into 8 different tracks, the first seven of which make up the albums title sequence 1.1-1.7. They function both as a connected series of musical moments but also individual passages that exist on their own. First let talk about the highlights, this album follows the standard modern ambient routine of quiet distant moments building into warmer, louder and more present passages. Where William's compositional knowledge comes into play in a great way is preventing these passages from being glossed over like far to many ambient pieces tend to, each ebb and flow is emotional and packs a punch. The best moments on this album come in 1.3 and 1.5, the sonic similarity isn't perfectly consistent but both of the tunes develop in a really engaging and unique way that I absolutely love and reminds me of my favorite ambient compositions. 1.3 in particular is the best individual track and stands alone as a fantastic composition that hits all the right spots for ambient music.
1.7 is a pretty solid moment on the album but it really serves as a fantastic closer to the On Time series as a whole as it's long outro is a very welcome moment. Unfortunately the same can't be said for 1.1 a decent song but one that throws you straight into the deep end in a way that is far too jarring for an ambient project. The track itself is decent but given the expectation that these songs flow in and out of one another like one large composition, this track should have a much better build. 1.2 and 1.6 are moments that don't quite land in the best way, but as a whole the On Time Out Of Time series is an enjoyable one.
What is so strange about this album is that after 7 sonically consistent tunes that effectively weave in and out of each other, he sneaks in an eighth and completely random track in its last moments titled 4(E+D)4(EP=EPR). The track is far louder and busier than anything else on the album and doesn't match the sonic consistency at all. It is a really interesting composition that slowly deteriorates over nearly ten minutes into ambient bliss. What makes me so confused about this tracks inclusion is how random it feels, after 40 minutes of songs that match in sonic energy the last moments are dominated by something thematically and musically different in so many ways.
Despite some strange occurrences on an album level these tracks hold up very well individually. The album doesn't quite take the next step in ascending to something brilliantly cohesive and thematic but each of its moments feels fulfilled and has the texture and touch of a veteran musician. 7/10
For more experimental music, check out my review of Xiu Xiu's Girl With A Basket Of Fruit here.
On Time Out Of Time is split into 8 different tracks, the first seven of which make up the albums title sequence 1.1-1.7. They function both as a connected series of musical moments but also individual passages that exist on their own. First let talk about the highlights, this album follows the standard modern ambient routine of quiet distant moments building into warmer, louder and more present passages. Where William's compositional knowledge comes into play in a great way is preventing these passages from being glossed over like far to many ambient pieces tend to, each ebb and flow is emotional and packs a punch. The best moments on this album come in 1.3 and 1.5, the sonic similarity isn't perfectly consistent but both of the tunes develop in a really engaging and unique way that I absolutely love and reminds me of my favorite ambient compositions. 1.3 in particular is the best individual track and stands alone as a fantastic composition that hits all the right spots for ambient music.
1.7 is a pretty solid moment on the album but it really serves as a fantastic closer to the On Time series as a whole as it's long outro is a very welcome moment. Unfortunately the same can't be said for 1.1 a decent song but one that throws you straight into the deep end in a way that is far too jarring for an ambient project. The track itself is decent but given the expectation that these songs flow in and out of one another like one large composition, this track should have a much better build. 1.2 and 1.6 are moments that don't quite land in the best way, but as a whole the On Time Out Of Time series is an enjoyable one.
What is so strange about this album is that after 7 sonically consistent tunes that effectively weave in and out of each other, he sneaks in an eighth and completely random track in its last moments titled 4(E+D)4(EP=EPR). The track is far louder and busier than anything else on the album and doesn't match the sonic consistency at all. It is a really interesting composition that slowly deteriorates over nearly ten minutes into ambient bliss. What makes me so confused about this tracks inclusion is how random it feels, after 40 minutes of songs that match in sonic energy the last moments are dominated by something thematically and musically different in so many ways.
Despite some strange occurrences on an album level these tracks hold up very well individually. The album doesn't quite take the next step in ascending to something brilliantly cohesive and thematic but each of its moments feels fulfilled and has the texture and touch of a veteran musician. 7/10
For more experimental music, check out my review of Xiu Xiu's Girl With A Basket Of Fruit here.
