Full Spectrum Records is pleased to announce ‘The Poet’ – a major new work from poet, composer, and long-time member of the extended FS family tanner menard. Following in the spirit of the 2018 release of ‘wanna live in the world w/a whole face,’’The Poet’ offers a deep dive into the realms of sound art and poetic expression.
The creation of ‘The Poet’ began in 2019, when menard started writing a poem for the ‘POETS ON DEATH’ online anthology, curated by CA Conrad. That initial seed would ultimately evolve into a longform work occupying dual forms – a book [published via Post Asemic Press] and a digital sonification [available via Full Spectrum] – marking the culmination of years of artistic exploration.
Featuring spoken vocal tracks recorded by menard and the artist nvjq, the recorded version of this work involves performative contrapuntal poetry, which is then treated as a non-traditional score for the creation of musical accompaniment via menard’s classic techniques. Far more than a collection of poems, however, ‘The Poet’ plays back as a symphony of voices, including perspectives from the poem itself and the poet, as well as hypnotic suggestions, dreams, and past-life counterpoints, rewriting the frequency of memory as light on water.
This material also incorporates significant conceptual contributions from several other poets, including Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Sherwin Bitsu, and Ariana Reines, as well as the late meditation and yoga teacher Guru Jagat Kaur. The guidance and support from these individuals allowed ‘The Poet’ to take shape as a multi-voiced narrative, traversing myriad states of overwhelming, ecstatic, and altogether sublime consciousness.
credits
released March 1, 2024
Vocals: Tanner Menard and nvjq
Studio assistance from Chad Viator
Poems: Tanner Menard and 'the poem"
Music and Art by Tanner Menard
Mastered by Andrew Weathers
Tanner would like to thank Ariana Reines, Sherwin Bitsui, Henk Rossouw, Karl Kempton, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Michael Jacobson, Gretchen Korsmo, Andrew Weathers, Edmund Ciccarello, Art Hardy Sr., Ramona Gutierrez, Oliver Mayeaux, Chad Viator, CA Conrad, Orlando White, KT Thompson, Harmanjot Kaur, Tej Kaur Khalsa, Guru Jagat Khalsa, Tyler Mitchell, Lawrence Lenhart, Chelsey Johnson, Nicole Walker, Henry Quintero, Manny Lolly, Jessica Alexander, A Studio in the Woods, Jeffery Darensbourg, Atakapa-Ishak Nation, my parents and siblings, RS.
Full Spectrum Records releases the works of experimental musicians and sound artists, with an ear towards idiosyncratic tones, extended time frames and unique compositional approaches.
My humanities professor showed me this piece and i cannot stop coming back to it. Something deep and alluring of this piece keeps me wanting more. Absolutely one of my favorite cuts from last year. Ra!
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