Falcons - EP Collection

THE EP COLLECTION
(FBM-111) CD
42:15 min.

Shadow Land/ Tina/ Fiesta de Guerra/ Black Ice/ Wake Up/ Sombrero del Diablo/ Colleen/ Wings of Love/ Apache/ Mr. Big Hat/ Come by my Love/ Rikki/ Dreamrider

Now on Youtube on The Falcons Music Channel:
Wings of Love in concert, and Shadow Land.

REVIEWS...

Canada's Falcons are back with a much wished for EP collection plus unreleased tracks! We forever rave over one of the best modern guitar bands and for the unique guitar sound they create. Rightly so. This is a collection of the early EPs via CD and cassette that they did plus a few newies - "Shadow Land" and "Tina" are still amazing. Can't imagine anybody who likes guitars not loving The Falcons. **** (4 stars)
Davy Peckett, New Gandy Dancer, UK

The Falcons have been quite prolific recently - this is the second CD they've released this year. With the EP Collection, you get 13 songs taken from EP's and compilations released between 1991 and 1997, plus several unreleased songs. Simply put, if you like The Shadows, then The Falcons are a band you must add to your collection.* * * * 1/2
Sean Berry, The Continental Magazine

Interesting rock instrumentals are hard to play, you need solid rhythm and the lead lines have to sing to replace the voice that people are accustomed to hearing. In rock's early day bands always included instrumentals in their sets to demonstrate their chops. Even the RoIling Stones included one instrumental on each of their early albums. The Falcons have been playing contemporary rock "instros" (their term) for twenty years and in celebration of that anniversary they are releasing three CDs this year.
The "EP Collection" is the second release in the series and it's a great one. Eleven tracks are drawn from three EPs originally released between 1991 and 1997, a version of "Apache" is taken from a 1997 compilation and one previously unreleased track add up to a Bedclothes' dozen of thirteen tracks. Bedclothes Studios is the name of the 7' by 11' bedroom where the band recorded most of these tracks. They removed the bed, hung four 2' by 6' foam cushions in the corners and recorded live off the floor in glorious analogue on a four track Audio Technica cassette recorder. Their first EP in 1991 was issued on cassette only. Somehow it doesn't seem that long ago. The result is a warm, live sound that is contemporary but also evocative of earlier great instrumental bands like the Ventures and the Shadows. To make the link clear the only non-original tune on this CD is the cover of "Apache," which the Shadows recorded in 1960 for the UK market and the Ventures covered in 1962 for the North American market.
Although the sound is rooted in the past, The Falcons are not a retro band. They are taking an established form and moving it some. place a little different. They call It "Instros for Moderns." They have six videos posted on YouTube. See for yourself.
Richard Samuell, BC Musician

The Falcons' EP collection: Garage CD of the Week
It was a toss up to determine the CD of the week between a much more serious work and the relatively light Falcons but The Falcons won if purely because they were more amusing. You can’t take rock and roll too seriously and neither do they. Just as there are only so many ways to sell a pizza or a car, there are only so many ways to record rock instrumentals. That’s a lesson in the EP Collection, which is exactly that – a gathering up of rock instrumentals that date from 1991 spread over the years on EPs. The quartet’s self-imposed limitations and makeshift recording studio mean The Falcons strive for both fidelity and simplicity and it’s worth remembering that even the primitive conditions under which the bulk of these tracks were recorded, the recording gear was still superior to the pre-Beatles era that inspired them. “Shadowland,” which leads off the album, sets the tone by immediately painting a picture of a frat-dance with Hank Marvin leading The Shadows with a swinging red Fender.
Tom Harrison, The Province

YESTERDAY'S REVIEWS...

THE FALCONS 1992 cassette:

What a surprise this turned out to be. Three '50s-style geetar instrumentals played with real heart and none of the cheesy irony you'd expect from Shadowy Men or Huevos Rancheros. Recorded in mono (I think), it actually sounds like you're spinning thru the desert blaring the AM radio. The Falcons have met with some local success. Let's hope they can put out some more stuff and get themselves some real exposure.
Paul Kelly, National Chart, Toronto, Canada

Want a perfect soundtrack for a road trip through the American and/or Mexican desert? The Falcons are a Vancouver quartet, playing guitar-oriented instrumentals with a Spanish flavour. What impressed me most was how good they sound as a band. All of the parts are so well integrated that the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. A rare group whose every note, chord, and drum fill means something. "Tina" makes me romantic for all my favourite westerns and for a desert I've never been to.
Jeremy Higgs, Offbeat, CKVU, Victoria, Canada

THE FALCONS 1994 CD EP Fly By Night:

THE FALCONS IS HOT!
Yuzo Sasaki, New Elecki Dynamica, JAPAN

The most beautifully picked and crafted CD of the year.
David Arnson, NEW GANDY DANCER

They'll have you thinking that Mark Knopfler has come to his senses and delivered some instrumentals more in the early sixties style of his hero, Hank Marvin.
Alan Taylor, PIPELINE

The Falcons are masters of instrumental twango.
Trev Faull, OUTLET, UK

back to Catalogue page

Featuring Shadow Land and Apache - plus a never-released 1991 three song demo and all the tunes from the 1994 CD EP Fly by Night. Re-mixed and mastered in analogue to celebrate The Falcons' 20th Anniversary. Complete with a handsome cardboard cover.

Available from iTunes, Amazon and more

The Falcons at Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver BC

The Falcons in 1993 at Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver

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