The Disintegration Loops

The Disintegration Loops is a series of four albums by the American ambient musician William Basinski, released in 2002 to 2003 on Basinski's label 2062. Made from looping magnetic tapes that sampled earlier recordings, each track's loop decays, creating an ambient and drone soundscape. In the 1970s, Basinski studied avant-garde music at university, including musicians such as the American composer John Cage, and recorded his first tape experiments. He recorded The Disintegration Loops between July and August 2001. After he witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center from his Brooklyn apartment during the September 11 attacks, he dedicated the series to the victims of the attacks. The Disintegration Loops received positive reviews and is considered a significant work in ambient and electronic music. It popularized Basinski, establishing him as an avant-garde musician. In 2012, its tenth anniversary, the electronic music label Temporary Residence reissued and remastered The Disintegration Loops for its introduction into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum with additional material. Temporary Residence remastered it again in 2025 as The Disintegration Loops (Arcadia Archive Edition).