#adam markiewicz

This was originally supposed to be a list of tunes we listen to over and over again in the tour van. We compiled it while we were still on the road in early March with over 10 consecutive weeks of touring still in front of us. And then everything shut down everywhere, for everyone. So this has become a list of tunes we listen to in quarantine as we weather the storm in Houston, Texas, Marilu's birthplace. Some of the selections stayed the same, and some have changed. They are songs that make us feel stronger, lighter, or take us deeper.

Susan Allen—“Perchance to Dream: III. An die Tueren Will Ich Schleichen (I Shall Quietly Steal From Door to Door)” by Gloria Coates

Marilu: One of my favorite pieces of music written for the harp and performed by my beloved harp mentor the year that she passed away. “I shall steal from door to door,” feels an especially fitting phrase in this time of desperation. I could write an essay about microtonal harp exploration, but I believe it’s just best to enjoy this gorgeous work.

DJ Screw, UGK—“One Day”

Marilu: Life is short y’all… A favorite song of mine for many years. I was particularly charmed to learn that composer Michael Pisaro pays homage to the DJ Screw version of this song in Tombstones.

Pharmakon—“Crawling on Bruised Knees”

Adam: I've always loved this banger so much and have a really fond memory of seeing her perform it on a really hot night at Red Light District - I go back to it over and over again.

Guillaume de Machaut—“Agnus Dei from Messe de Notre Dame”

Adam: Guillaume de Machaut has influenced my approach to singing and harmony more than anyone else, this excerpt from his Mass being the first piece of his I ever heard and my favorite forever. He lived almost 80 years in 14th century France and survived The Plague and a thousand other scourges that swept across Europe, spending many a season in isolation. This is the first complete version of the Mass in the Ordinary setting for more than one voice.

Frank Hurricane—“Quartz Blues”

Heavenly Wheel by Frank Hurricane

Adam: This is my all-time favorite song by the legend and deep homie Frank. I remember the first time I heard him play it in the basement of The Hose and I've requested it every time I've seen him play since. Frank emanates a deep calm that seems as old as the Earth - this is grounding, beautiful stuff.

Lana Del Rey—“Summertime Sadness”

Marilu: CLASSIC LANA. A true inspiration for both of us.

Ize—“This Is Not A Drill”

Adam: Ize is someone with whom we are ::scheming:: behind the scenes (keep an eye out!). This track is absolutely stunning and so timely - I've been bumping it every day when I go out to run alone in the deep Houston heat.

Selena>—“Dreaming of You”

Marilu: We are currently in Texas for the foreseeable future, so we gotta honor our Tejano Queen, Selena. RIP Angel.

Velvet Underground—“Heroin”

Adam: I have a vivid memory of one of the first times I got really stoned as a 16-year old and listened to this song. It was as if I hadn't understood music before that moment - that deep. Totally not a unique experience, but it definitely helped shape me and we both still bump this late nights.

Julie Byrne—“I Live Now As a Singer”

This is LEYA’s second full-length album, following The Fool in 2018, and it conjures the same dream-like, vaguely unsettling aura as the debut. The earlier album played more with noise. Collaborations with Sunk Heaven and PC Worship veered into static, chaos and an interesting ugliness in The Fool (though a joint effort with Eartheater is lucid and pure). That’s not the case with this new album. Here, masses of tone billow and unfurl, floating like dark sea plants on barely perceptible tides of music. The harp, tuned in eccentric ways, cuts through like a diamond knife, scattering staccato shards of brilliance. Donovan sings, mostly, aligning sometimes with the flickering, mildly conflictive drones of violin, sometimes cutting free and executing acrobatic flights and swoops above it all.

Other artists, similarly situated between contemporary classical, experimental drone and pop, drop in to augment this odd, rather beguiling art music. GABI, the singer, trills operatic counterpoints against “WEIGHT”’s slow throb of strings, slipping in between massed, tactile, vibrating layers of sound to sketch out a haunting melody. The harp, by nature and custom a “pretty” instrument, turns tumultuous and unruly, executing off-balance, off-tuned motifs in sharp staccato tones.  Later, John Also Bennett plays the flute in “MARIAH” (there’s a song called “ABBA,” too, not sure if these are pop references or not), fluctuating between unison and dissonance against the violin foundation.

This is good, odd stuff, angelically beautiful, but with a chilling undertone. Both Donovan and Markiewicz know what they’re doing well enough to subvert their instruments, making music that is inhumanly lovely and disturbing.