Basinski, William
September 23rd (black)
'September 23rd' is the first release in William Basinski's 'Arcadia Archive' series. Recorded in September 1982 in his first loft in the pre-gentrified DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, 'September 23rd' is a recently unearthed early entry in what has become a hugely inspirational and influential catalog. Built from a piano piece that Basinski composed in high school in the mid-1970s, 'September 23rd' quickly evolved into a vastly different work. As Basinski explains: "The original piano recordings were made on on a piano belonging to my downstairs neighbor, John Epperson - later known more famously as world-renowned drag artist, Lypsinka - at 351 Jay Street aka Casa Degli Artisti, our first loft in New York. It was recoded with a little portable (probably Radio Shack) cassette deck sitting on the piano as I improvised a piece I had been working on since high school. It was pretty terrible, but when I did the John Giorno/William Burroughs cut-up technique, suddenly I had something to put through the Frippertronics loop and feedback loop tape delay system - and boy did I get results. A very prolific time for a young, wacked-out queen in NYC." Released on black vinyl.