William Basinski - Lamentations (2020) [Official Digital Download]

The master of the tape loop returns with "Lamentations", yet another collection of eroded drone for low-light dreamers, captured and constructed from tape loops and studies from Basinski’s archives – dating back to 1979 – Lamentations is over forty years of mournful sighs meticulously crafted into songs. They are shaped by the inevitable passage of time and the indisputable collapsing of space – and their collective resonance is infinite and eternal.

Those familiar with Basinski's catalog won't find a lot new here - not a complaint - like the molasses-slow shots that made David Lynch's "Twin Peaks: The Return" so eerily affecting, Basinski's spine-chilling repetition drags u into a state of near-hypnosis, focusing on the tiny details as they crumble in and out of view.

"Lamentations" is the perfect title; we've been spinning this on repeat as the constant chatter of apocalyptic news bubbles thru social media and every newsreel across the planet. It's hard to tell exactly what Basinski is lamenting but it doesn't really matter - each track sounds like a fragment of our past slowly fading from view. As "The Disintegration Loops" mourned a New York City that had been lost, "Lamentations" feels like a memorial for something else huge and all-encompassing. Nostalgia's a hell of a drug.

Tracklist:
1. For Whom the Bell Tolls (04:10)
2. The Wheel of Fortune (03:20)
3. Paradise Lost (01:22)
4. Tear Vial (04:45)
5. O, My Daughter, O, My Sorrow (06:43)
6. Passio (06:21)
7. Punch and Judy (03:06)
8. Silent Spring (06:20)
9. Transfiguration (03:37)
10. All These Too, I, I Love (11:06)
11. Please, This Shit Has Got To Stop (05:04)
12. Fin (01:37)


Thanks to the Original customer!