WILLIAM BASINSKI AND JANEK SCHAEFER – . . . on reflection (2023 Repress) – LP – Vinyl

LP – Black Vinyl Repress.

Time and duration are core themes in the work of both William Basinski and Janek Schaefer, and this long-distance collaboration took a suitably long gestation of eight years from start to finish. In that time, our collective perception of time has at times become disorienting. . . . on reflection remodels that instability as an exquisite work of art one that is unmoored by time or space.

Limitation breeds creativity, revealed as an expression of minimalism and close focus. Deploying a delicate piano passage from their collective archive, Basinski and Schaefer weave and reweave in numerous ways, forging an iridescent flurry of flickering melodies. The sounds of various birds heard from late night windows on tour can occasionally be heard throughout, ricocheting off mirrored facades, reflecting on themselves as they continually reshape their own environments with song.

. . . on reflection looks backwards, a bustling revelry of positive emotions heard through the aging mirrors of memory. It is a celebratory meditation where sound shimmers through time like the light of the seas waves glistening as it folds and unfolds upon itself.

Created 2014-2022 between L.A. & London. Mixed at Narnia, Walton-on-Thames. For Harold Budd.

At its best, William Basinskis music inspires the sort of rapturous testimony usually reserved for peak experiences, cult leaders and the dead. – Pitchfork

“Schaefer finds peace in discord. His musique concrete pieces tend to evoke an ominous sense of mortal doom, yet enrapture in the process. – Pitchfork

Tracklist:

Side A
1. . . . on reflection (one) (7:37)
2. . . . on reflection (two) (13:27)

Side B
3. . . . on reflection (three) (5:49)
4. . . . on reflection (four) (10:12)
5. . . . on reflection (five) (5:13)