The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

June 1, 2026
The band took passage on a merchant ship, powered by both oar and sail. They were lodged in the deepest part of the hull, between rows of amphorae of olive oil and unmarked crates. Damp and dark, neither humans nor donkeys thought much of the accommodations but such was maritime travel. Once before visiting Crete, the troupe had journeyed by water on a tour. They therefore knew that the on-board conditions were barely tolerable. The lingering memory had dissuaded them from making a second sea-faring voyage for a good long time.

written while listening to:  Emanuele Maniscalco, Ivar Hedén & Måns Wikenmo - untitled (Havtorn Records, HR023, 2015, Sweden, digital files, discogs.com)

June 2, 2026
After a long, cramped day, they spent the first night on the tiny island of Antikithira, known only as a stopping point for sailors and migratory birds. All disembarked to the beach save the donkeys, as it was deemed too much trouble to get them out of the hull. "They'll survive three days," Papa reassured Andromache when she learned the news. "They are hardy creatures." Hektor added, perhaps unnecessarily, "It's why we chose donkeys, after our horses didn't survive an earlier trip." Before dinner, Andromache helped Hektor tend to the pair.

written while listening to:  Guillaume Gargaud & Jean-Philippe Gomez - Glitch (self-released, no catalog #, 2014, France, cd, discogs.com)

June 3, 2026
Their second day at sea passed much like the first. Huddled in darkness with water sloshing at their feet, few words emerged. We relate but one of the unspoken conversations that failed to materialize. Mama Chloë attributed the stoic nature of their flautist to previous travel under these conditions. While accurate that Andromache, upon being selected in the lottery, had been transported by ship to Crete, what truly prepared her to tolerate life in dank gloom was the year she had spent playing for the Minotaur in the stone maze beneath Knossos.

written while listening to:  Magda Mayas' Filamental - Murmur (Relative Pitch Records, RPR1262, 2026, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 4, 2026
That night the travelers made camp on the northern shore of Kithira. Besides serving as a waypoint, it was known widely as the Island of Love, for there Paris had spent his first night with Helen. By early moonlight, the band played an impromptu performance on the beach for the sailors. To the accompaniment of the surf, Megaera sang of the enchantment that Aphrodite cast upon the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Her song closed with Helen and Paris eloping to Kithira, omitting entirely the decade long war that followed the couple to Troy.

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey, Han Bennink & Evan Parker - Topographie Parisienne, disc 1 (Fou Records, FR - CD 34-35-36-37, 2019 (rec. 1981), France, cdx4, discogs.com)

June 5, 2026
Camping a short distance down the beach from the sailors, the band relished the news of just one more day in the hull. The full-throated reception of their performance had also cheered them; they fell asleep with contented hearts. Andromache awoke at midnight in a panic. She crawled to the side of Mama Chloë, soundly slumbering, and jostled her shoulder until she woke. "What is it, dear heart?" asked Mama groggily. "Where are we going tomorrow?" She had unknowingly roused Papa as well, who rolled over and mumbled, "We head to Sparta."

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino & Jun Morita - untitled (Les Disques d'Ailleurs, 002, 2024, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

June 6, 2026
The news that they were not bound for Athens immediately relieved Andromache. She whispered an apology and slunk back to her blanket on the sand. She could never return home, for the gods had given her life to Minos so that all in the city would be spared. She had reneged on the deal, through no fault of her own, or so she presumed. In any case, it was best for no one to learn that she had survived. Her ignorance of the maritime trade routes had concealed from her their great distance from Athens. Of Sparta, she knew little other than that it lay in foreign lands.

written while listening to:  Les Diaboliques - Live at the Rhinefalls (Intakt Records, Intakt CD 059, 2000, Switzerland, cd, discogs.com)

June 7, 2026
The merchant ship arrived in the harbor of Gytheio just after sunset. The seaport sat on the eastern coast of the peninsula and welcomed all vessels from the Gulf of Laconia, so long as they submitted to Spartan law. The city of Sparta lay inland twenty-five miles along the northern road. The night chill settled before Ion and Thon were unloaded. Their grateful braying and nuzzling was sufficient reward for the hours the band had waited. They stood then on the wharf beside a pile of all they owned—tents, instruments, clothes, and no cart or porters in sight.

written while listening to:  ensemble]h[iatus - Solist Am Rand (self-released, no catalog #, 2023 (rec. 2014), Germany, digital file, discogs.com)

June 8, 2026
Papa breathed deeply and intoned a brief prayer of thanksgiving, "Freedom." Andromache's thoughts had dwelt on their present dilemma. Where would they stay the night? What were they going to do with their gear? In an instant, Papa's prayer banished her worries. The band faced only a continuation of ordinary life, navigating daily challenges one at a time as they made their way to the next performance. It was absurd to expect that one could take pleasure in music-making all hours of the day. Of course, there was work between to make it happen.

written while listening to:  Alvin Curran, Andrea Centazzo & Evan Parker - Real Time Two (Ictus Records, ICTUS RE 0011, 2025 (rec. 1977), Italy, lp, discogs.com)

June 9, 2026
They passed the night in the tight confines of a single room close to the docks. Compared to the bilge of the ship, it seemed they were back in the spacious accommodations of Lord Threspotus, though no longer at his beck and call. By happy necessity, Andromache was lodged between the instruments and Mama Chloë. She snuggled against her and wandered off into paradisical dreams as Mama cooed to her with a languid stream of endearments, "My little grebe, my Synder, my darling, my golden oriole." No infant was ever more tenderly laid to sleep.

written while listening to:  Rob Mazurek Quartet - Color Systems (RogueArt, ROG-0138, 2024, France, cd, discogs.com)

June 10, 2026
Come morning, the band dispersed on errands. Papa and Triballos went to purchase a cart. Mama and Exekias visited a market, seeking groceries for breakfast. Andromache and Hektor groomed the donkeys. Megaera carried Grandpa Dumpling away from shore and up the gentle slope of Laryssio, upon which Gytheio was built. There she found shade in a copse of strawberry trees and sat the old man against a trunk. The pair let the cool, salt breeze of the sea blow by them as they watched the fishermen's dinghies entering and leaving the port far below.

written while listening to:  Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh & Tyshawn Sorey - Compassion, sides A & B (ECM Records, ECM 2760, 2024, Germany, cd, discogs.com)

June 11, 2026
They gathered again at midday. The wooden frame of the cart that Papa and Triballos had found was sound though both its wheels were suspect, the spokes near splitting and the steamed wood of the rim in little better shape. They had sought a wainwright to replace the wheels but the nearest shop was in Sparta, so they hitched the cart to the donkeys and loaded it up. When Mama looked askance at the rig, Papa shrugged. Megaera set Grandpa gently inside and they were off. The day hinted at spring and all were ready to feel the road beneath their feet.

written while listening to:  Agustí Fernández - Aesthetic of Prisms, disc 4 (Fundacja Słuchaj!, FSR30/2024, 2024, Poland, cdx7, discogs.com)

June 12, 2026
The route to Sparta was well traveled, the dirt packed down by countless footfalls. Any who had heard of Sparta knew the prominence of the military in its culture. Still finding so many soldiers on the road, marching in groups of thirty-six, startled Andromache. Hektor pulled the cart off to the side to let each unit pass. The travelers—soldiers and merchants alike—spoke in the Laconian Doric dialect, distinct from Cretan Doric both in vocabulary and in strange rules of pronunciation, and, to Andromache, yet more alien to the Attic tongue of Athens.

written while listening to:  Jandek - Baltimore Sunday, disc 2 (Corwood Industries, CORWOOD 0865, 2023, United States, cdx2, discogs.com)

June 13, 2026
Along this journey, two very different things were present in an abundance not seen before by Andromache: weapons and olives trees. Each soldier whom they passed had a short sword at his belt and more than half of them also carried a spear in hand. The men appeared to be in their twenties and bore every sign of a discipline instilled by training since their youth. Vast orchards of olive trees, known locally as Koroneiki, appeared and reappeared on both sides of the road. The leaves, light green on top and silver below, heralded the coming spring.

written while listening to:  David S. Ware Quartet - Godspelized (DIW, DIW-916, 1996, Japan, cd, discogs.com)