Spirits Burning with Don FalconeCover art by Keith A Donald
We’re back with another look at Moorcockian music, this time in the company of Don Falcone, captain of the starship Spirits Burning, long time collaborative portal for progressive and space rock projects involving luminaries from across the rock field, most recently Michael Moorcock himself with their last two albums being musical adaptations of the Dancers at the End of Time trilogy.
We talk Moorcock (obviously) and Don’s influences and history as a musician and producer, as well as a few other bits n’ bobs as we go.
The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly continues with Chapter 10 and an unusual encounter (score and atmos again by @nand_soundtrax).
As previously mentioned, Tash and I are in a quest to find the perfect One-Shit Book. After she coined the phrase when describing The Jewel in the Skull (almost perfect) we always knew this would be a question for the ages. Does such a thing exist?
We’ve set out to find out.
As Pops gave me a number of crappy books as well as the great ones back in the day, I pulled a contender from the shelf. With my tongue in my cheek perhaps, but a contender nevertheless in the shape of:
Dannus: The Dark Straits of Reglathium.
I’d already tried to sucker Loz into covering the 4th Dannus epic but he wriggled and evaded the hook. Therefore Tash ended up on it.
However… There are challenges. The images below provide a brief look inside of our process and the tangles and complex negotiations that take place in establishing our agenda for a show. And we haven’t even started on our rum choices yet!
There is time yet for another lapse in Tash’s resolve but do not fear friends… I’m determined that we do this so you don’t have to.
It’s hard to believe but 2021 is already thundering by and we’re almost half way through February!
Phil and I have had this week off, so we took the opportunity to have Christmas v2.0 (as work pretty much ballsed up proper Xmas) and it has been boozy, relaxing and very monster heavy (we did a LOT of Godzilla movies thanks to the Criterion Collection I got the xmas before last). Bonzer!
On a more pertinent note however, I’ve been fairly productive on the recording front. We got The Knight of the Swords Book Three out last week and we have Loz’s next show covered in terms of what we’ll be reading. I’ve needed an excuse to delve in to those White Wolf collections and now I have it. Not that I really REALLY needed an excuse but… so many books… so little time.
In terms of future developments, the Journal continues to benefit from some collaboration (see the previous patron exclusive post for more on that).
In terms of upcoming episodes I have two more in the can awaiting some editing and tomorrow I’m recording with Tash for the first time in an age. We’ll be embarking upon the first of what will be a series of occasional quests to find the ultimate ‘one-shit book’. This time we’ll be reading the epic(ally terrible?) Dannus: The Dark Straits of Reglathium, the fourth in a series of five fantasy heart-breakers by Mike Sirota.
Why the fourth?
Well, that was the one that ended up in my hands c/o Pops back in the 80s. I’d never even seen the other four (until I picked them all up over the last few months). If Pops gave me it, it’s in scope.
For that reason, the first of the two other shows I have recorded and awaiting assembly is MASSIVELY in scope. I mentioned Wheels of Terror in our introductory episode and the novels of Sven Hassel were Moorcock’s main competitors for my attention as a teenager. I’m joined by a new guest, my old mucker Robbo, as we take a look at the horrors of the war from a distinct perspective.
The second is another foray into the world of Moorcockian music as I’m joined by the driving force behind Spirits Burning, Don Falcone. Don is a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose latest projects have been the musical adaptations of Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time trilogy, the first two of which are available now. We had a really great conversation and it was fascinating to hear how a Moorcock fan went on to not only produce Mike’s Deep Fix album Live at the Terminal Cafe, but also collaborate with and record him as part of the Spirits Burning band along with a number of other rock luminaries.
Phil will also be back on the show soon for our first dip into The Warhound and the World’s Pain.
One final note from me today – our patron @opensussex is heading towards the close of his rum-soaked Kickstarter project, card game The Full Shanty. At the time of posting this there are four hours to go. Pledge as a Boatswaine and you can get the card game AND a CD of the Duck Pond Sailors singing the shanties in the game.
Loz is back as we conclude our look at the first volume in the psychedelic adventure of Corum, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. As usual our conversation veers around a bit, covering beers, rhubarb, hernias and just how much agency Corum has. We also have a good think about what to cover next, roll some dice to decide, and get bowled over by the sheer quality of @nand_soundtrax‘s journal soundscape!
Breakfast in the Ruins 