Marqui Adora

Music you should hear: Cygne Noir

2012-01-05T17:41:00.001-08:00

If this voice sounds familiar that's because it's the sound of Marqui Adora singer Danny Ashe.

Find out more here: http://cygnenoirmusic.blogspot.com/
Latest tracks by Cygne Noir

Music you should hear: Kitchen Fork - Jack Conte

2011-09-02T18:45:00.001-07:00

Kitchen Fork - VideoSong - Jack Conte

Music you should hear: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps acoustic

2011-06-13T07:46:00.001-07:00

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps acoustic

Music you should hear: From the Basement version of Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

2011-05-31T21:11:00.000-07:00

Music you should hear: Weezer - Paranoid Android

2011-05-29T13:20:00.001-07:00

Weezer - Paranoid Android

The new Marqui Adora single - And It Begins

2011-05-26T07:09:00.001-07:00

Here's something new for your earholes from Marqui Adora.

Marqui Adora - And It Begins by Danny Ashe

And It Begins on iTunes!

More to come...

Music you should hear: Dub FX & Stamina MC 'Only Human'

2011-05-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

Dub FX & Stamina MC 'Only Human'

I start mixing a Marqui Adora record tomorrow.

2011-03-06T19:22:00.001-08:00

Hey folks,

At about this time last year I had decided which songs to record for a Marqui Adora album. I did this because I knew that world traveling chef Danny would be in our neighborhood and was itching to track some vocals.

Almost a year has past, but the finish line is in sight. No more music needs to be played so I'm putting down the instruments and firing up the mixer.

Stay tuned.

-Tooker
Marqui Adora

Music you should hear: Dub FX 'Made'

2010-12-22T05:25:00.001-08:00

Music you should hear: Dub FX 'Made'

Music you should hear: Bernhoft-So Many Faces

2010-11-28T06:12:00.001-08:00

Bernhoft "So many faces"

Music you should hear. EL GUINCHO | Bombay

2010-10-02T07:00:00.001-07:00

EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo.

Music You Should Hear!

2010-09-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

More banjo please!

And It Begins is ready for mixing.

2010-08-23T13:20:00.001-07:00

Nine more to go...

Music you should hear: F**K You Hipsters

2010-08-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Posted with love for the Hipster Massive Collective...

Music you should hear: DRESDEN DOLLS Sing

2010-07-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

A simple but powerful idea and song:

Sing from the Dresden Dolls

Music you should hear-Beardyman

2010-07-13T06:00:00.001-07:00

Stick with it for some very impressive beat-boxing and humor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qciVXUHTN10

Consider radio silence over...

2010-07-11T22:35:00.001-07:00

At the end of 2009 Joe and I pondered pulling the plug on Marqui Adora and letting the patient die in peace. We had lost Danny, singer/lyricist/guitarist/songwriter, to the culinary arts and travel abroad and felt maybe we should just start from a clean slate. It was a period of uncertainty about our musical futures but in the end we made a tentative decision to continue working under the banner of Marqui Adora. We made that choice because letting the songs we loved die on the vine seemed like an injustice to them and the work we put into them.

Because of our “day jobs” the two of us didn’t have a definite idea of when we could get back to music work at even a part time level together, so I began to forge ahead largely on my own. I started to work on some of our unfinished material with the idea of releasing a few instrumental songs before attacking what to do about lyrics and vocals in Danny’s absence.

As it happens in early 2010 I heard from Danny that he was coming back to Florida from Spain for a few months in the summer and had a hankering to record some of the unfinished songs if any would be ready when he came to town. I was rather excited by this turn of events and decided to be ambitious in my planning and schemes. I told Danny I was going to try to have an albums worth of songs ready for him to sing and that, for the sake of continuity in the recording, I would start from scratch and record all the parts before he started recording vocals. (In retrospect, what the fuck was I thinking!)

I started programming drums based on unfinished recordings from the past for about 18 songs. I quickly narrowed things down to 10 songs that I felt I could complete largely on my own since Joe, a soon to be father, was unlikely to be able to spare the time. After completing the drums I spent a month getting my bass and guitar chops back and then completed all the parts needed for Danny to track vocals. We spent the first two days in the studio and got his vocals completed for five songs with another two started. We both left that second day expecting to finish up over a few days the following week. That’s when Danny got what we usually call “the club”. It’s a cold, or something that musicians and DJs get a lot from staying in smoke filled rooms all night with people from all over the world and their various illnesses while drinking heavily.

As the time grew sorter before Danny would be returning to Spain, I started to think that we would be forced to settle for an EP worth of finished material. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I’d have another five songs ready for the next time Danny was in town. It happened that the week that he would be leaving his throat cleared up and we finished the final five songs in record time. To say we are both pleased would be an understatement. (I’m pretty sure I was grinning ear to ear.)

So as it stands at the moment I have ten songs that are candidates for a new Marqui Adora release. I’ve still got plenty of work before they are finished, including recording Howard’s guitar playing on at least one song, backing vocals from Joe and I, and several parts on acoustic guitar. Even with that in mind I can say without worry that we will have an album released before the end of the year that Danny will be singing on. That was not something I though would be happening four months ago.
I’ve kept fairly quite until today because I didn’t want to fail to deliver a finished product. I’m writing this because the hardest and most important parts of the recordings are completed and only the lighter drudge work remains.

Consider radio silence over...

And get excited.

-John Tooker

Marqui Adora

It's 2010 and the music industry still doesn't understand the internet.

2010-01-18T21:30:00.001-08:00

Remember when MTV played all those videos that bands payed tons of non-recoupable money to make and the record companies happily let MTV not pay a dime to do so? Now they are trying to take blood out of the stone and are locking their artists into little video boxes with pad locks on them. Even the ones who don't ask the record company for money to make the videos! READ THIS

The band OK Go has a fun new video:

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Music you should hear: Josh Freese Presents: "Drumming Live with Nine Inch Nails-Wish"

2010-01-18T19:58:00.001-08:00

Josh Freese Presents: "Drumming Live with Nine Inch Nails-Wish"

Music you should see: You are a slacker musician!

2010-01-13T06:46:00.001-08:00

This is a five year old playing Toxicity

Music you should hear: Fever Ray-Keep The Streets Empty For Me

2010-01-06T20:00:00.001-08:00

Fever Ray-Keep The Streets Empty For Me

Music you should hear-Amanda Pallmer sings Hurt w/Boston Pops

2010-01-05T20:55:00.001-08:00

Amanda Pallmer sings Hurt w/Boston Pops

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T14:48:00.001-08:00

Past

At the end of 2009 Joe and I found ourselves without a singer/lyricist as Danny decided to commit himself to the culinary arts. Can't really say I blame Danny for the change of direction since the last two years have been less productive then they should've been and certainly music didn't earn us cash or the promise of cash like it had in better days. At some point we might have Danny finish a few songs that we should've released ages ago, but since he will be in Spain for the foreseeable future, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting to hear those. We will miss having Danny's vocals, lyrics and guitar, but that was his choice to make. If Danny changes his mind we've left the door wide open for him to return but we are proceeding as if that won't be happening. We've chosen to keep using the name Marqui Adora but we realized this won't please all of you. When it comes to my favorite music plenty of bands I enjoy went through major changes through the years and this will certainly be a big one for us. Some people like early Pink Floyd, some middle, and some later. Some people like Peter Gabriel with Genesis and others without. At first we thought we'd release music under another name, but then we realized that would be abandoning this bunch of songs to the scrapheap since no further attention would be given to them.

Present

The next step for Marqui Adora will be releasing a few instrumental tracks Joe and I have been recording this past year. My self imposed goal is to have them out before the end of time...

Future

Sometime after that Joe and I will be putting out more music and, as usual, you should expect the unexpected.

-Tooker
Marqui Adora

Posted via web from Marqui Adora

An unexpected email leads to a course correction.

2009-10-20T15:57:00.001-07:00

After working on one of the Marqui Adora songs all day I read this email message from Danny Ashe:

Subject:Hey Guys

I've been giving this a lot of thought and have come to a big decision. My days with Marqui Adora are over.
The fact that it doesn't bother me that we haven't done anything in months, tells me my heart is not in it anymore. For months I've been debating whether or not I should do this and I guess certain things have happened lately that have made me realize there's too many things I sacrificed for music. It was fine to sacrifice them at the time, but now I feel I need to move on.

I got a job in Spain, so I'm leaving right after Christmas and will be there for most of, if not all of 2010. Not sure if I'll be coming back to the States though... at least for a while.

It's been great working with you guys but after 20 years of playing music I'm officially ready to concentrate on a new career, new experiences and new goals.
I wish you both the best with the music and if at any point you want vocals done for the songs we haven't finished, let me know.

Take care,

This is Danny Ashe signing off...

So there you go. Joe and I hope Danny does well in everything he chooses to do in his life. (For my part I hope he falls back into making music someday since he is one of the most talented musicians I've ever worked with.)

Thanks for all the good times and good tunes Danny.

-John Tooker
Marqui Adora

Where is Art & Entertainment heading?

2009-09-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

John sent me these two links last night...

http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/200582690/why-i-am-not-afraid-to-take-your-money-by-amanda

http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/20/basement-musician

Here are some thoughts after reading them:

I agree with Amanda Palmer. She totally has the right idea. Why the hell should you not be compensated for the art you create? The idea of every artist or band being a street a street performer and saying "Yo, give me some money!" might be a bit hard for some to adjust to, but it does make a lot of sense.
Marqui Adora (http://www.marquiadora.com) rarely played shows for this exact reason. We quickly got tired of haggling Promoters to get paid at the end of the night after playing with 10 other bands on a tiny stage not large enough for a drum kit let alone a 4 piece band and a shit PA. We knew we were never going to be singing with a record label and endless touring when no one knows who you are wasn't really appealing either. John and I continually said there has to be a better way. We went the music licensing route and even though we had some successes, when the well ran dry on placement opportunities, we quickly realized we had no real fan base, not one large enough to support us, and it was time to get day jobs. And although the music industry is in flux, some really awesome things are happening as a result. For one, John and I know a shit ton about how to fix and troubleshoot an Apple Computer and Danny knows how to expertly make your mouth water while preparing food in the kitchen. Howard can make a new tooth for ya.

With the basement musician guy... he is just as silly to me as Jonathan Coulton, but he has good ideas, just like Jonathan. And for that matter so did Radiohead with their Thumbs Down webcast videos during In Rainbows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8GKRb-INFE

These videos got me excited to go see them live. And many bought the Box Sets. I paid five bucks for the record, even after getting the whole thing free a week or two before it's "Official" release.

The key here is both artists are taking chances and go about their business in ways that make the most sense to them. Neither of their approaches will work for everyone but they will work for those who put in the time and energy to build relationships with the fans/customers.

"Bob Lefsetz says it's all about the live show, what about recorded music and all the money I spent buying recording gear and the time I spent learning how to do it on my own? Does recorded music have value any more?"

Good question. I ask my self that question whenever I go into my office and see 10's of thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment, instruments, computers and shelves full of 12" records and CD's. I ask myself that question whenever I think of how many times I listened to "The Downward Spiral", "Broken" and "The Slip"; or the number of times I walked to school listening to "Disintegration", "Pornography" and that Ethyl Meatplow record; or the time I spent dissecting "Fook", and the many drives to anywhere just to listen to "Either/Or" and "XO"; Or how about the trips to Orlando with "Ruby Vroom" or "The Bends" as the soundtrack or the number of times I just sat down with headphones to take in "In Rainbows" or even most recently "xx". Of course these recordings have value! Look at how much use I got out of them! I see the music landscape becoming more interesting everyday and I think the value of recorded music is still there and is expanding in the form of royalties through services like Spotify. Not that Spotify is the end of the line, but it's a big step in the right direction when it comes to this topic.

Which leads me to my next topic...

Ownership vs. Access.

As for Art and Entertainment as a whole, I feel really comfortable with the idea of owning very little but having access to everything. I've been doing that for years with Movies (The Theatre, Netflix, iTunes etc.) and now with Spotify I'll be doing it more so with music (don't worry eMusic, I still love you). The People who really want the access will pay for it via subscription or buy the Album/Song/Movie out right, those who don't will tolerate the Ad's because really, they don't care that much anyway, otherwise they would own the record/movie themselves. I feel the same applies with Books, TV, Radio and all forms of art that can be digitized. When on demand services mature and every play/stream/download is accurately accounted for and reported to the rights holders and collections services, the amount of revenue generated as whole will be insane, even at fractions of a penny per download. And of course Labels, Publishers and Movie Studios will find their place again by delivering prominence and front page placement. It will all level out

You can't buy the Statue of Liberty, but you can pay admission and see it in person... while you're there you can buy a print, a postcard, a t-shirt, go home and download the screen saver or desktop img, etc. This applies to the Album and seeing a band live. You can't own the band (well, ok maybe you can), but you can own a copy of the album digitally, a t-shirt, a poster, blah blah blah. And there will always be diehards who want a collectable, like a CD, Vinyl or A Super Duper Blue Ray ultra amazing 5.1 more real than real Audio/Video 3D DVD 128 Page Full Color (to big for your book shelf and takes up so much space on your coffee table that you can't actually place a cup of coffee on it) Enhanced Box Set Thingy.

We (bands this means you) just have to stick around long enough to capitalize off of all the changes ahead of us.

-Joe