If you’re into ambient or experimental electronica you know that The Disintegration Loops has been canonized. In 2016 Pitchfork named it the third best ambient album of all time, behind only Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II and Brian Eno’s seminal Ambient 1: Music For Airports. Originally released as four separate albums between 2002 and 2004, it got its first box set treatment in 2012 and, well, good luck in getting your hands on a copy of that. Not because you can’t find it, mind you, but because of the price – 10 copies were sold on Discogs in 2025 with prices ranging from $549 to $1,080. So what is a music fan to do?
Well, luckily for us Temporary Residence Limited just re-released The Disintegration Loops on vinyl (8xLP) and CD (4xCD). When faced with the pre-order, I had a feeling the vinyl version would appreciate in value quick (and it has), but I opted instead to buy the CDs, because for material like this I prefer being able to play 70+ minutes at a time without having to get up and flip a record over. And as I sit here listening to it, I know I made the right choice.
Probably shortly after magnetic tape was first used to record sound, people realized that it can also deteriorate and when it does the recording sounds warped. Basinski, however, heard that and thought, you know, I could just play a loop of deteriorating tape and and record it as it falls apart, making its self-destruction part of the sonic experience in real time. This discovery coincided with the September 11 attacks, which Basinski witnessed from his Brooklyn home, and while in no way trying to trivialize the tragedy of that day, there’s an emotional connection between that event and the sense of loss one feels from listening to The Disintegration Loops. Hearing these short, subtle loops literally flake away in front of your ears as they repeat over and over and over again has a similar effect on you psyche, your mental defenses slowly crumbling and blowing away like motes of dust, leaving you raw and exposed.
You can still purchase both the vinyl and CD versions of The Disintegration Loops from Basinski’s Bandcamp page HERE, and if you want the vinyl I’d recommend you get it while you still can. I still thing the CDs are the best way to go, personally, and at $40 for roughly five hours of music they’re well worth it.