William Basinski – Shortwavemusic

Just picked this up from a Discogs seller. My record does not fit in the plastic outer sleeve. Anyone have the same? I’m wondering if the plastic sleeve could have shrunk.

This is one of those release you buy alone for its sonic, historical relevance. This is sound and tape art history. These early RN release probably didn't sound the best because it was so expensive. If you need the best sound, by the CD but buy this for its significance both in Basinski's career but for its significance in sound art.

Basinski creates textural mountains from tape and radio. It's incredible that these pieces were made in 1982.

add-on:
there are misprinted samples, which weren't sold because the plant didn't clean the presses properly and they have swirls of color in the clear vinyl. This in no way affects the quality of the sound.
one has been recently sold at a benefit auction in New York for Phillip Glass' new non-profit organisation for young composers for $200.00.

this album is the first of three resulting from a series of experiments in 1982 using lo-fi technology to extract sounds from the airwaves and weave them into musical tapestries. using two »norelco« reel-to-reel decks from the ’60s, a radio and a shortwave radio. basinski recorded samples of music from the radio, edited the tape into loops of varying lengths, and slowed them down. these themes were then layeded together in real time to an accompaniment of randomly shifting shortwave radio static. the themes explored were often brief excerpts [3 or 4 notes] from musak versions of popular standards by manipulating these themes and mixing them with an existing symphony of electronic information, basinski has created a series of melancholy, atmospheric aural landscapes for the listener to inhabit. the music is timeless and compelling a remarkably original experimental music album.

william basinski is a classically trained musician who attended north texas state university in the late ’70s to study jazz and composition.