The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

July 1, 2026
The band was roused early, while it was still dark, for the site where they were to perform lay a half day march westward. They left Grandpa in the care of the innkeeper's wife. Their escort was two young soldiers, who knew the road well and seemed eager to arrive, for they frequently encouraged Hektor and Triballos to pick up the pace. Along the road, the travelers passed a deep ravine known as the Chasm of Kaiadas. Here Spartans executed enemies by throwing them into the pit, where their remains were left unburied. Eyes averted, Andromache hurried by.

written while listening to:  Massimiliano Milesi - Oofth (AUAND, AU9082, 2019, Italy, cd, discogs.com)

July 2, 2026
Upon the slopes of Mount Taleton, they encountered many signs of the army until finally they found themselves in the midst of hundreds of men. The soldiers were garbed in crimson tunics and cloaks, which caught the cool, mountain breeze. An anticipation was in the air, as if it were a holiday. The musicians were led to a raised platform, upon which the officers would observe the proceedings. Before them a field, trampled by many feet, spread out. The band set up beside the stand then were led to the mess tent for a meal and to rest their legs.

written while listening to:  Guillaume Gargaud - AARDE: Desperate Islands (dirtydemos, DirtyCDR 037, 2008, United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

July 3, 2026
Fires, fueled by pitch-soaked logs, were lit at regular intervals along the perimeter. The series of dances began while the sun hovered above the ragged horizon of the mountains. After two or three renditions of the pyrrhichios, shadows crept across the clearing, with more than a dozen enomotiae waiting their turn to perform. Papa had instructed all to play their instruments at maximum volume so that every soldier, spread across the field, heard the music. For the percussionists, this tested the strength in their arms and, for the flutists, their lungs.

written while listening to:  Magda Mayas - Chant (Unsounds, U92, 2026, The Netherlands, cd, discogs.com)

July 4, 2026
The band repeated the piece without variation. There was a monotony to it but also the professional challenge of rising to a standard of excellence and demonstrating, as much to themselves as to the audience, their mastery of the discipline of their trade. In the flickering light, Andromache tried to discern differences in the execution of the dance, for she had been told that the event was a competition, at the end of which officers would announce a winner. She proved unable to appreciate slight gradations in synchronization from one unit to the next.

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey, Han Bennink & Evan Parker - Topographie Parisienne, disc 2 (Fou Records, FR - CD 34-35-36-37, 2019 (rec. 1981), France, cdx4, discogs.com)

July 5, 2026
When the performance had concluded, the officers opened many large amphorae of wine to the troops. The band was invited to partake as well. A boisterous revelry lasted deep into the night. Though Papa quietly urged temperance among his musicians, Triballos declared that he would drink the share of any who abstained. To the cheers of Spartan soldiers, the dwarf proceeded to make good on his promise. Mama Chloë kept the wide-eyed Andromache close by her side, eventually retiring to a spot removed from the field to get what sleep they could.

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino & My Cat Is An Alien - Cosmic Debris Volume III (Opax, OPX LP10, 2007, Italy, lp, discogs.com)

July 6, 2026
Returning to the city on the next morning, Papa wrongly supposed that their obligation had been met. A high-ranking polemarch found them at the inn. He announced his satisfaction with their participation in the ceremony and noted that both wheels of their cart, and the axle as well, had been replaced. Before they left, he bade the musicians gather their instruments and return with him to the local training ground for one more job. There the band found a group of soldiers waiting for them and a crowd of boys, aged seven to ten, lining the walls.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre - Live at the "Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon", disc 1 (Leo Records, CD LR 594/595, 2011, United Kingdom, cdx2, discogs.com)

July 7, 2026
The enomotia of men demonstrated the dance to the students. Then a schoolmaster ordered a group of children to form ranks. Each time a boy erred in the intricate steps of the pyrrhichios, the music was halted. An officer-in-training violently dragged the offending child from the ranks, threw him to the ground and pronounced his sentence: no rations for a day and no blanket tonight. The boy remained silent, eyes forward. This scene played out repeatedly. To Andromache, the string of punishments seemed endless. She sorely regretted her role in the affair.

written while listening to:  Copenhagen Clarinet Choir & Anders Lauge Meldgaard - Jeux d'Eau (År Og Dag/conatala, AD17/009, 2025, Denmark/Japan, lp, discogs.com)

July 8, 2026
The musicians left the lesson in subdued spirits, though they could not share their feelings openly for the polemarch accompanied them back to the inn. He summoned Papa, Mama and Andromache to him. To Papa he said, "All of you have fine instruments to play save your daughter. The condition of her flute is not fit for the quality of her playing." He handed an object bundled in cloth to Andromache, who unwrapped it to discover a pristine, new instrument." Mama nudged her out of silence, "Where are your manners, Synder? Thank the kind man."

written while listening to:  Evan Parker & Jean-Marc Foussat - Insolence (Nashazphone, NP-54, 2025 (rec. 1980, 1981 & 2023), Egypt, lp, discogs.com)

July 9, 2026
Two unrelated thoughts swirled as if borne by a tempest inside our heroine. The army man had called her Mama and Papa's daughter, and they had not corrected him, which pleased her to no end. At the same time, she wanted nothing to do with his gift. The music of Sparta was not at all to her taste and she hoped to put it behind her soon enough. No less in her thoughts was a strange attachment to the old flute. It was the tangible connection to her legacy of the labyrinth. Her choice was not so perverse, for many cling tightly to mementos of hardship.

written while listening to:  Tomas Fujiwara - Pith (Out Of Your Head Records, OOYH 022, 2023, United States, lp, discogs.com)

July 10, 2026
Fully provisioned, the troupe of musicians led the donkeys out of Sparta, following a mountain road that led generally north. They were issued no token of permission to travel in the countryside, but an officer assured them that word had been sent to the military stations along the way. The company of the Crocodile was granted passage in exchange for services rendered to the army. Grandpa Dumpling had recuperated though his face still bore a purple patch ringed with the yellow fading of a bruise. With a smile, he attributed the damage to a tavern brawl.

written while listening to:  Alexandra Grimal - le jardin des soupirs (self-released, no catalog #, 2026, France, digital file, discogs.com)

July 11, 2026
As was their habit, the band practiced as they walked the long road. Mama Chloë had packed the new flute in the cart and Andromache did not ask her to retrieve it, preferring instead to keep the old one. After an hour of this, Triballos abruptly shouted, "Well, if you're not going to play the damned thing, then I'll give it a blow!" Andromache had been totally oblivious to both his interest and his growing impatience. "Of course" she said, taken aback, "be my guest." Mama pulled out the instrument and traded it with the dwarf for his aulos.

written while listening to:  Roscoe Mitchell Trio - No Side Effects, disc 2 (RogueArt, ROG-0006, 2006, France, cdx2, discogs.com)

July 12, 2026
The flute was made from the lower leg bone of a deer. Triballos examined it by sight and feel. Running his fingers along its length, he praised it saying, "It's a fine, straight instrument." He brought it to his lips. Unlike the aulos, which generated sound by the vibration of a double reed, this flute possessed no reed. The dwarf was familiar with many wind instruments and his embouchure was impeccable. To honor the spirit of the animal who had yielded this bone, he first played in a lively staccato style that conjured a stag bounding through tall grass.

written while listening to:  Caroline Kraabel & the London Improvisers Orchestra - We Stay Apart Because We Love Each Other. Love Is Stronger Than Greed. (self-released, no catalog #, 2020, United Kingdom, digital file, discogs.com)

July 13, 2026
All among the musicians complimented Triballos on his playing and encouraged Andromache to try her own hand at it. Although the dwarf offered it to her, she demurred, suggesting instead that they play a duet on the two flutes. Her wandering music was like a doe meandering through undergrowth between tall trees in a forest. When the stag and doe met at the tree line, their initial curiosity gave way to placid acceptance, aware of each other but not especially responsive. Grandpa joined in with his wooden clappers and soon others followed.

written while listening to:  Ahmad Jamal - Ahmad's Blues (GRP, GRD-803, 1994 (rec. 1958), United States, cd, discogs.com)

July 14, 2026
When the band encountered a village, there was a military presence, consisting of a few men. As promised, the band's license to travel in Sparta was not challenged. Nor were they asked to perform the pyrrhichios again, which planted in Andromache the suspicion that the affection for the dance was due primarily to officers and less so to rank and file soldiers. They played for the villagers in the evening a collection of folks songs loved widely. The only request was for the anapale, a dance with moves borrowed from wrestling.

written while listening to:  Florian Stoffner - bijou (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS056, 2026, United States, cd, discogs.com)

July 15, 2026
In two days time, they reached the border with Arcadia, traveling through a narrow, rocky pass. No signs marked the territory, nor were any men conspicuously stationed there. However, at the village where they stopped for the night, the dialect had changed to that favored by the Arcadians. Their tongue kept old words, remembered only by rural villagers isolated within the mountains. Their hospitality turned out to be greatly improved relative to Sparta. Visitors along the rugged roads were few and far between and welcomed without suspicion.

written while listening to:  Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue - Zero Grasses: Ritual For The Losses (Pi Recordings, PI88, 2021, United States, cd, discogs.com)

July 16, 2026
We remain ignorant, Gentle Reader, of the technical secrets bound within the music by the artisans of the company of the crocodile. At the risk of projecting our own suspicions, we suppose that their artistry was universally welcomed not strictly because of their professional skill with their instruments. Rather, there was a restorative message in their songs that nourished the soul. It was plain to hear and needed no explanation. Listeners who did not actively seek out this message were nonetheless discovered by the music and embraced. Andromache lived it every day.

written while listening to:  FluFlaFen - Sorcery Sauce (Ramble Records/WV Sorcerer Productions, RAM-177/WV089, 2024, Australia/France, lp, discogs.com)

July 17, 2026
In Tegea, one of the principle cities of Arcadia, the band was hired by the local assembly for a public performance in the town square. Virtually the entire town turned out for the concert. Spring had come to the mountains and there was an instinctual energy in the crowd. From the stage, Papa greeted them all and drew guffaws of laughter when he joked, "We've just come up from the south where we played the pyrrhichios until the arms of our drummers nearly fell off. I hope you'll excuse us if we're a little rusty with the rest of our repertoire."

written while listening to:  Charles Ives & Samuel Barber: Emerson String Quartet - American Originals: String Quartets (Deutsche Grammophon, D 101392, 1992, Germany, cd, discogs.com)

July 18, 2026
For this show, the three women had donned the golden oriole outfits. After Megaera won the audience over with the song of Seikilos and her tale of life among giants in the mountains, the band perversely played the pyrrhichios. That night they released all the pent-up creativity that had been bridled in Sparta. It was perhaps the wildest, least disciplined rendition ever to be sounded. The crowd formed ranks and joined in the irreverent anthem of their southern neighbor by comically aping thrusts and lunges. So was the demon from the schoolyard lesson exorcised.

written while listening to:  Fred Frith & John Zorn - 50⁵ (Tzadik, TZ 5005, 2004, United States, cd, discogs.com)

July 19, 2026
The wilds of Arcadia provided a welcome respite from civilization and the travelers were loath to disturb it. The road narrowed to scarcely more than a footpath beneath the canopy of spring foliage. Lost in the shade of downy oak, sweet chestnut and beech trees, the band harbored the contentment that comes from being surrounded by the vibrance of the vernal world. When Exekias discovered a rock partridge hen incubating her clutch, he was moved not to collect the eggs. Their rations were well stocked and waterskins refilled at mountain streams.

written while listening to:  Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands (Blue Note, BST 84425, 1985 (rec. 1967), United States, lp, discogs.com)

July 20, 2026
At night, Hektor and Triballos resumed their bickering over the crowded tent. Grandpa Dumpling pretended he didn't hear their argument as did Andromache, who wanted to avoid any more marriage proposals, which had earlier emerged as the likeliest solution to redistributing sleepers among the tents. Amidst the repetitive hoot of the scop owl, ubiquitous in these mountains, the dwarf returned to the aulos to liven up the monotonous song with his gentle night music. In the morning, the others found him curled up beside the ashes of the fire.

written while listening to:  Various Artists - Statics (CCI Recordings, CCD 25002, 1995, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

July 21, 2026
To describe the Arcadians as rustic was to ignore their long history as a regional power. Arriving in the town of Orchomenus, the band passed between solid stone fortifications of ancient lineage. Five hundred years earlier the outlying marshes of Lake Kopaïs had been drained through man-made dikes carved between mountains, a massive engineering feat that exposed a fertile plain to sustain the populace. No less impressive was the Treasury of Minyas, royal tombs with a dome of carefully lodged stones resembling a beehive fifty feet wide.

written while listening to:  Steve Lacy Nine - Futurities Part I (hat ART, hat ART CD 6031, 1989, (rec. 1984 & 1985), Switzerland, cd, discogs.com)