Don Falcone
Encyclopedia
Don Falcone is an American
musician and producer. Originally a poet-performer in Pennsylvania, he relocated to San Francisco at the beginning of the 1980s. He was a member of Thessalonians and the original Melting Euphoria. He is also the co-founder of Noh Poetry Records
, a San Francisco, California based independent record label specializing in electronic music
, experimental music
, space rock
and psychedelic music
.
During the early 1990s, as electronica
and ambient
was coming to prominence, Silent Records
founder Kim Cascone
included Falcone on the first Heavenly Music Corporation album. Falcone was subsequently asked to join Cascone in Thessalonians. Along with fellow Thessalonians Paul Neyrinck, Falcone and Cascone recorded as a trio under various project names, debuting as Satellite IV on the Fifty Years of Sunshine CD. The majority of the trio's material was released under the name Spice Barons; they recorded two full-length albums and also contributed to the John C. Lilly
E.C.C.O. album.
In 1994, Falcone formed Melting Euphoria with Mychael Merrill and Anthony Who. Focusing on space rock
, their debut recording was "Through the Strands of Time"; Falcone left the group soon after its release.
In 1995, Falcone started a solo project in San Francisco called Spaceship Eyes. The project was included on several drum and bass
compilations. The band released the single "Cheebahcabra" on Hypnotic Records in 1997, followed by the LPs "Truth in the Eyes of a Spaceship" in 1998 and "Of Cosmic Repercussions" in 2000. Three of Falcone's Spaceship Eyes pieces appeared in the 1999 cult rave film Better Living Through Circuitry
. Most notably, Mind The Alien from Truth In The Eyes Of A Spaceship was used as the film's opening track.
His next project, Spirits Burning
, signed with French label Musea Records in 1998. The group released two albums on Musea affiliate Gazul Records: New Worlds By Design (1998) and Reflections In A Radio Shower (2001). These albums included contributions from over 30 musicians, including Daevid Allen
of Gong
, Porcupine Tree
's Steven Wilson
, and Hawkwind
's Robert Calvert
(posthumously). Spirits Burning's third CD, Found in Nature was released in 2006 by Italian label Mellow Records. Contributors included Daevid Allen
, Acid Mothers Temple
& The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and Judge Trev Thoms. Falcone's Spirits Burning project currently includes former Hawkwind
members Bridget Wishart
and Alan Davey
, as well as Chicago multi-instrumentalist Karl E. H. Seigfried
.
Collaborating with Daevid Allen
, Falcone released Glissando Grooves on Voiceprint Records
in 2006. Falcone and Allen are also part of Weird Biscuit Teatime, which released their first album on Voiceprint in 2005. In addition, Allen has contributed to two other Falcone bands: Fireclan (which included other members of Melting Euphoria) and Quiet Celebration (an ambient
-ethno-jazz quartet).
Various cable and TV network programs have also used Falcone's music: A&E's Biography, History Channel's Beyond the DaVinci Code and VH1's Driven.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician and producer. Originally a poet-performer in Pennsylvania, he relocated to San Francisco at the beginning of the 1980s. He was a member of Thessalonians and the original Melting Euphoria. He is also the co-founder of Noh Poetry Records
Noh Poetry Records
Noh Poetry Records is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, founded by electronic musician Don Falcone and graphic artist Karen Anderson in May 1987. The label is dedicated to electronic, experimental, space rock and psych music....
, a San Francisco, California based independent record label specializing in electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
and psychedelic music
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
.
During the early 1990s, as electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
was coming to prominence, Silent Records
Silent Records
Silent Records was a record label established in 1985 by Kim Cascone when he released PGR's debut LP, titled Silence. The label went on to produce primarily electronic experimental and ambient music. From 1993 to 1996, three imprints were started in order to highlight different genres of...
founder Kim Cascone
Kim Cascone
Kim Cascone is an American composer of electronic music who is best known for his releases in the ambient, industrial and electro-acoustic genre on his own record company, Silent Records...
included Falcone on the first Heavenly Music Corporation album. Falcone was subsequently asked to join Cascone in Thessalonians. Along with fellow Thessalonians Paul Neyrinck, Falcone and Cascone recorded as a trio under various project names, debuting as Satellite IV on the Fifty Years of Sunshine CD. The majority of the trio's material was released under the name Spice Barons; they recorded two full-length albums and also contributed to the John C. Lilly
John C. Lilly
John Cunningham Lilly was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher and writer....
E.C.C.O. album.
In 1994, Falcone formed Melting Euphoria with Mychael Merrill and Anthony Who. Focusing on space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
, their debut recording was "Through the Strands of Time"; Falcone left the group soon after its release.
In 1995, Falcone started a solo project in San Francisco called Spaceship Eyes. The project was included on several drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
compilations. The band released the single "Cheebahcabra" on Hypnotic Records in 1997, followed by the LPs "Truth in the Eyes of a Spaceship" in 1998 and "Of Cosmic Repercussions" in 2000. Three of Falcone's Spaceship Eyes pieces appeared in the 1999 cult rave film Better Living Through Circuitry
Better Living Through Circuitry
Better Living Through Circuitry is a 1999 documentary directed by Jon Reiss about the Electronic Dance movement of the 90's. The documentary is considered the first full-length film that goes behind the Electronic Dance scene and uncovers the culture it has spawned...
. Most notably, Mind The Alien from Truth In The Eyes Of A Spaceship was used as the film's opening track.
His next project, Spirits Burning
Spirits Burning
Spirits Burning is a musical collective that has released a combination of ambient, jazz and full-on space-rock with input from many of the genre's luminaries, most notably Gong's Daevid Allen and members of Hawkwind. Spirits Burning is overseen by American composer/producer Don Falcone.-History:In...
, signed with French label Musea Records in 1998. The group released two albums on Musea affiliate Gazul Records: New Worlds By Design (1998) and Reflections In A Radio Shower (2001). These albums included contributions from over 30 musicians, including Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
of Gong
Gong (band)
Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
, Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
's Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
, and Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
's Robert Calvert
Robert Calvert
Robert Calvert was a writer, poet, and musician.-Biography:Born Robert Newton Calvert in Pretoria, South Africa, Calvert's parents moved to England when he was two years of age and later attended school in London and Margate. He began his career by writing poetry and in 1967 formed a Street...
(posthumously). Spirits Burning's third CD, Found in Nature was released in 2006 by Italian label Mellow Records. Contributors included Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
, Acid Mothers Temple
Acid Mothers Temple
Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. is a Japanese psychedelic band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians, but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with only a few core members and frequent guest...
& The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and Judge Trev Thoms. Falcone's Spirits Burning project currently includes former Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
members Bridget Wishart
Bridget Wishart
Bridget Wishart is a vocalist and performance artist who performed with Hawkwind from 1989 to 1991, appearing on the albums Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me to Your Future and, among others, the Nottingham 1990 video.She obtained BA in Fine Art from Newport Art...
and Alan Davey
Alan Davey (musician)
Alan Davey is best known as the former bassist with Hawkwind. He is now the bass player and vocalist for Gunslinger as well as Hawklords, Meads of Asphodel, and Thunor.-Early musical career:...
, as well as Chicago multi-instrumentalist Karl E. H. Seigfried
Karl E. H. Seigfried
Karl E. H. Seigfried is a German-American jazz, rock, and classical bassist, guitarist, composer, bandleader, writer and educator based in Chicago....
.
Collaborating with Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
, Falcone released Glissando Grooves on Voiceprint Records
Voiceprint Records
Voiceprint Records is a company and record label based in England, founded in 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialise in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also have new releases, all under the Voiceprint and other imprints....
in 2006. Falcone and Allen are also part of Weird Biscuit Teatime, which released their first album on Voiceprint in 2005. In addition, Allen has contributed to two other Falcone bands: Fireclan (which included other members of Melting Euphoria) and Quiet Celebration (an ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
-ethno-jazz quartet).
Various cable and TV network programs have also used Falcone's music: A&E's Biography, History Channel's Beyond the DaVinci Code and VH1's Driven.
Discography
- As Spaceship Eyes:
- Kamarupa (1997)
- Truth In The Eyes Of A Spaceship (1998)
- Of Cosmic Repercussions (2000)
- With Spirits Burning:
- New Worlds By Design (1999)
- Reflections In A Radio Shower (2001)
- Found in Nature (2006)
- Alien Injection (2008)
- Earth Born (2008)
- Our Best Trips: 1998 to 2008 (2009)
- Golden Age Orchestra (2009)
- Bloodlines (2009)
- Crazy Fluid (2010)
- Behold The Action Man (2011)
- With Daevid AllenDaevid AllenDaevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
& Don Falcone:- Glissando Grooves (SFO Soundtribe 3) (2006)
- With Falcone & Palmer
- Gothic Ships (2006)
- With Fireclan:
- Sunrise to Sunset (2004)
- With Grindlestone:
- one (2008)
- tone (2011)
- With Heavenly Music Corporation:
- In a Garden of Eden (1993)
- With Melting Euphoria:
- Through The Stands of Time (1994)
- With Quiet Celebration:
- Quiet Celebration (2000)
- Sequel (2007)
- With Spice Barons:
- Unidentified Floating Ambience (1994)
- Future Perfect State (1995)
- With Thessalonians:
- Soulcraft (1993)
- Solaristics (2005)
- With Gary Parra's Trap:
- Beyond the Status Quo (1997)
- With Weird Biscuit Teatime:
- DJDDAY (2005)
External links
- [ AllMusicGuide entry]
- Don Falcone web site. Includes links to other Falcone bands and projects.
- Spirits Burning web site
- Complete discography