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Listening Report: William Basinski

I am not sure how true the statement is that he actually watched the twin towers fall while playing the tapes, but if it is, there is obviously a big parallel to draw. The tapes themselves, as well as their disintegration of them, are perfectly transferable to the happenings of 9/11 and the crumbling of US security measures as we knew it (this is relative, of course, since I have never experienced US security measures before 2001).

 

The first time I listened to the Tapes was in class. Pretty quickly the tapes engulfed me. The sound is very consuming with the steady base sounds. It's quite a beautiful piece, actually, even though it sounds very moody and dark. It still radiates a certain calmness, even when the tapes slowly start to disintegrate.

 

There was a feeling of unease from the start, especially after having been told their connection to the tragic attack on September 11th. It almost has the potential to haunt me because of how sad it is. At the same time, the seamless loops of the piece and the general similarity of every part of the original tape itself, have a very quickly established hypnotic character. And this attribute doesn't fade with the disintegration. By the time one could notice the first glitch, they have listened to enough material to have kind of fallen into a trance – at least that was what happened to me. The first time I listened to the crackling and didn't bother me, not even by the end. And I had to skip through it again to even identify the point at which it starts to be noticeable.

 

Throughout the tapes, the vibe they’re giving off definitely shifts into a darker one. I personally couldn’t really place it, since I did not directly notice the disintegration consciously at first. It has something devastating about it, and definitely spreads a certain sadness upon listening.

 

I keep saying that I didn’t really notice the destruction of the tapes as it happened, but that doesn't mean, I didn’t feel the shift in emotion. The tapes are very long, and perhaps, the amount of time jades the listener a little bit, but I still know how I felt thinking back on the experience and I usually don’t have that with other songs.

 

I do think, however, that these feelings could also be triggered for someone who has not listened to the whole thing, simply because of its self-similarity. Maybe, the effect wouldn't be as intense, but I believe someone who was just listening to a minute in the beginning, the middle, and the end would prescribe the piece the same adjectives.

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