does anybody know the first first loop that is played on this segment? or was it just a demonstration of how he makes his loops? Thanks!

so mesmermerized by this broadcast I was inspired to write a poem

The Life and Death of a Melody; or on learning about disintegrating music loops
on NPR; the metaphor for entropy

Music falls as dust to the ground
notes fail to adhere
the recorded loop goes round
and with each go -around
a bit more of the film
that coats the tape
scrapes off until
the tape comes clear
with each loop
the long sustained notes
grow shorter, dropping
the end-note
making space for silence,
for breath. As the tape
winds on, the notes
become less, become
short staccato bursts,
guttural and melancholy,
the same way my father’s
mid-life vigor changed
to shallow-breathed
naps, to oxygen tanks, to
sparse hard puffs we could
time by the frightening silence
in between, until the loop
stopped
and the tape ran
clear.

Laura L. Hansen
June 1, 2012

The sublime magic of the disintegrating analog tape loops literally froze me in place when I heard them earlier today, and I just listened to them several times again. Thank you for the info @ buying them from iTunes.

i love your show!
if you are still wondering about the man named Gottlob: it´s a german name, and Gott means god (of course) and lob means (to) praise. The -lieb end of Gottlieb means something with love. Wether god loves the guy or the guy loves god, i don´t know.

Caught a bit of the Disintegration Loops on BBC 6music. Think it was Stuart Maconi's Freak Zone. Loved it! Have downloaded both podcasts, thanks very much. When I clicked on the itunes link to buy, it took me to a Danish site :-) Have no idea how many kroner to the pound...

Anyway, thanks again, and I've only just discovered your site, will be back for more!

I can't wait to listen to even more of these loops. They stunned me and gripped me amd filled me with the kind of awe I desperately want art to inspire. What a wonderful treat, thanks so much.

ever thought about playing the loops backwards, after the disintergration? so the sounds come to life rather than dies? i'd like that :)

Ditto on the tape loops, those were somehow magical.

The whale falls really blew me away. It took me twice as long to listen to this episode because I kept going back to it.
Puts one in mind of life on Europa... and our planet and the universe in general.

@Nicole

You can by the loops on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/the-disintegration-loops-ii/id274447396

or listen to them hear:
http://grooveshark.com/#/album/The+Disintegration+Loops+I/3959414

Have a beautiful nights sleep :)

@Radiolab
You guys are awesome, I enjoyed this segment of the show very much. Thanks for showing me Willliam Basinski and his music.

I need to know if there's anywhere I can find the musical loops used in this segment. It would be amazing to fall asleep to.

I was blown away by this podcast. These loops have seriously begun to repeat endlessly in my head and endlessly repeat, wow. Blown away.