TTW#54 – The Norman Conquest – Myriad
Cassette only – limited edition of 154 copies
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Track listing:
A: Myriad
B: Myriad
“Myriad” is a post-apocalyptic love story comprised of 10,000 tracks of recorded audio, yielding a great wall of sound. Unfolding over 31 minutes, the piece features over 150 performers on 200+ instruments including the Persian santur, various ARP/Buchla/Moog analog synthesizers, gamelans (handmade by Lou Harrison), classical strings, timpani, harpsichord, and percussion. Further information: www.thenormanconquest.net
Myriad is performed by a veritable “world orchestra”. The full list of 154 performers: The Norman Conquest, Brian Gleeson, Shayna Dunkelman, Theresa Wong, Zachary James Watkins, Agnes Szelag, Marielle Jakobsons, Ava Mendoza, Noah Phillips, Sarah Palmer, Andy Strain, Jason Hoopes, Jordan Glenn, Jon Porras, Evan Caminiti, Emily Packard, Damon Waitkus, Preshish Moments, Alee Karim, Joyce Teale, Bruce Teale, Gregg Kowalsky, Johanna Borchert, Ellen Fullman, Dave Holton, Patrice Scanlon, Sean Clute, Aram Shelton, Eli Wise, Kristine Barrett, Kevin Adams, Varun Kejriwal, Caroline Penwarden, Luis Maurette, Cory Wright, Angela Hsu, Ri Crawford, Matthew Pusti, Kate Mcloughlin, Marty McGinn, Mike Guarino, Phoebe Lehr, Chuck Johnson, Michael Gardner Cox, Phillip Greenlief, Hilary Overberg, Luke Selden, Karl Evangelista, Ben Bracken, Sam Ospovat, David Ryther, Deborah Katz, Victor Lowrie, Amelia Lukas, Kathryn Thompson, Heather Vorwerck, Hande Erdem, Lauren Elledge, Polly Moller, Ashley Morro, Maryclare Brzytwa, Jennifer Harper, Kate McLoughlin, Lisa McGee, Marcie Mara-Ann, Michael Elrod, Suki O’Kane, Tom Duff, Vanessa Beggs, Bob Marsh, Kurt Kottheimer, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi, Zeena Parkins, Shahzad Ismaily, Jewlia Eisenberg, Kristin Slipp, Chris Cutler, Kanoko Nishi, Jen Baker, Dennis Somera, Melody Ferris, Guðmundur Steini Gunnarsson, Paul Scriver, Ivor Holloway, Derek Monypeny, Amy Friebertshauser, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Maxwell Croy, Tony Cross, Steve Dye, Adria Cardwell, Jozef Van Wissem, Matthias Jentsch, Daniel Feese, Heath Thacker, Patrick Allen, Luciano Chessa, Blixa Bargeld, Beth Custer, Oscar Kaiser, Alejandra Ortiz, Saed Muhssin, Kala Ramnath, Moe! Staiano, Leah Rae Mittelmeier, David Gamper, Stuart Dempster, Manuel Salas, April Coker, Eddie Rich, Evan Fraser, Heike Liss, Burt Winn, Rachel Kast, Lisa Mezzacappa, Marco Eniedi, Darren Johnston, Sheldon Brown, Anantha Krishnan, Sam Wambach, Nadja, Nathan Fritz, Amir Shirani, Erik Larson, Matt Marks, Liz Albee, San Francisco Symphony, Jesse Quattro, Charity Chan, Quentin Sirjacq, Antoine Berthiaume, P.L. Grove, Leif Shackelford, John Kessler, Angel Gold, Michael Gold, Robert Lautenslager, Ivan Piesh, Nathan Snider, Jerry Smith, Sarah Howe, Sammy Kruger, John Abbott, Erika Pipkin, Torben Snekkestad, Stefan Smith, Benjamin Tinker, Wobbly, Jacob Felix Heule, William Winant, George Chen, Søren Kjærgaard.
Mr. Conquest writes: "After five years of recording/mixing/etc, I present to you my musical labor of love – “Myriad”.
“Myriad” is a piece of music that contains 10,000 tracks of recorded audio. While 10,000 tracks was the original goal born out of a curious naiveté, it became apparent to me through the recording process that I was exploring something bigger than just a simple, large number. In the Tao Te Ching, “10,000 Things” is a term referring to all of phenomenal reality. In many ancient schools of thought, it's a number which is almost incomprehensible; it is something approaching the infinite.
For me, the process became a celebration of life, sharing music with friends, and one facet of a realization of a lifelong query into the infinite. In the end, the whole piece became a sum much greater than the individual parts; to me it sounds like a million bajillion tracks. The sound is that of an army of loving friends, musicians, and companions joining together through my vision to create a sound unlike anything ever heard in the universe. Strains of my biggest influences can be heard throughout the piece, from Tchaikovsky to Phil Spector to Nine Inch Nails to Glenn Branca to Xenakis to etc, etc, etc – ad infinitum…
As an interesting side note, the extremely tiny (2” x 2”) artwork consists of 10,000 dots and was also created by myself.
With 10,000 thanks, TNC" – The Norman Conquest, Illinois, 12th April 2013
Biography:
The Norman Conquest [TNC] is a composer, performer, and improviser influenced by the art of sound engineering. Utilizing unconventional recording practices, the recording studio is TNC’s instrument. TNC performs as a sound manipulator & vocalist in Cosa Brava (with Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Shahzad Ismaily, Carla Kihlstedt, & Matthias Bossi) & Dokuro (with Agnes Szelag). As a recording engineer, some of the artists that TNC has worked with include Barn Owl, Elliott Sharp, Gregg Kowalsky, Ellen Fullman, Stuart Dempster, Marielle Jakobsons, & Blixa Bargeld (of Einsturzende Neubauten). TNC’s recordings can be found on such fine record labels as Tzadik, Thrill Jockey, Type, Intakt, Important Records, Root Strata, Ambiances Magnetiques, and Digitalis Records.
Reviews
Boomkat (UK):
A ludicrously overblown concept album, executed with compelling, nuclear impact. Stars just about everyone from the contemporary vanguard, and then some…
