Mico Nonet Releases the cardboard falcon, Their First Album Since The Marmalade Balloon in 2007
Mico Nonet Releases the cardboard falcon, Their First Album Since The Marmalade Balloon in 2007
Four Orchestral Players and a Synthesist Return After 19 Years with 14 Ambient Chamber Pieces
Mico Nonet released the cardboard falcon on 7 May 2026 through Ninevolt Labs. It runs to 14 ambient chamber pieces in just under 46 minutes, and it is the group’s first album since The Marmalade Balloon in 2007. The players include the principal horn of the New York Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony’s principal cellist, while Joshua Lee Kramer plays synthesizers.
Mico Nonet’s title track from the cardboard falcon is in the playlist below, and the group’s full coverage is on the Mico Nonet profile. The album came to MusicDrops.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Listen to it there first, then read on for the 19 years behind it.
Before the cardboard falcon, Mico Nonet Made The Marmalade Balloon With Four Orchestral Players in 2007
Mico Nonet started as four orchestral players and one producer. Their debut, The Marmalade Balloon, came out on CD in 2007 on the band’s own Mico Nonet Records. In addition, Maloja Pass was issued as a 7-inch single on clear vinyl.
That first line-up put Efe Baltacigil on cello and Carrie Dennis on viola. Katherine Needleman played oboe and Paul Lafollette played French horn. Meanwhile, Joshua Lee Kramer played the synthesizers, then produced and recorded the album. All five shared the writing credits.
Kramer’s reference points were old ones. In 2008, he drew up a list of ten early ambient pioneers from before Brian Eno’s Discreet Music. It ran from King Tubby and Cluster to Moondog and Erik Satie. In fact, he chose them with his vinyl spread across the floor.
Since then, the players’ orchestral careers have kept moving. Baltacigil went from associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra to principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony. Dennis played principal viola with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Today, Dennis plays with the Phoenix Symphony. Needleman, meanwhile, is still principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
the cardboard falcon Brings David Cooper Into Mico Nonet and Runs to 14 Short Ambient Chamber Pieces
The new album keeps four of the original five and adds David Cooper on French horn. Cooper is principal horn of the New York Philharmonic. Previously, Cooper held that chair with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony and the Chicago Symphony.
Needleman now brings English horn and oboe d’amore as well as oboe. Likewise, Kramer adds electric guitar to his synthesizers, and he also produced the record. On the title track, all five members share the composer credit.
casimir opens the album at 2 minutes 37 seconds. Then the title track arrives fifth as the longest piece, at 5 minutes 26 seconds. The shortest, perilous driftwood, lasts 2 minutes 17 seconds, and pixelated lightbox closes the set. Every title is written in lowercase.
The record blends those acoustic instruments with Kramer’s synthesizers. That is the pairing the band has called ambient chamber music from the start, and the result is spacious and stately.
It is also built for vinyl. Production began in September 2025 on a limited double album. The pressing uses 180-gram vinyl at 45rpm and a one-step lacquer process.
Kramer made the visuals too. First, he built a mosaic pixelating lightbox. Then he used it for the videos to casimir and the title track, which went up in June. The closing track shares its name with that machine.
Where the cardboard falcon Goes Next
Specialist radio picked the album up quickly. Music from it aired on KEXP’s Pacific Notions and on several NTS Radio shows. It also reached dublab’s Between Two Points with Richard Chartier. In May, Star’s End on WXPN played elastic seesaw and stringless kite.
For now, the album’s next life is on screen and on vinyl. The two lightbox videos give the music a visual side. Meanwhile, the double album gives the 14 pieces a physical home.
Terry Riley and Brian Eno, Two Names From Kramer’s Ambient Map
Terry Riley wrote In C in 1964. The score asks any number of musicians to repeat 53 short melodic fragments in a guided improvisation. His 1968 recording for Columbia Records entered the US National Recording Registry in 2022. Kramer put In C on his list of pioneers, and the link is plain on this album. Here, trained classical players work inside a shared framework, with all five credited as composers on the title track.
Brian Eno set the cut-off date for that list with Discreet Music. One side is a 30-minute piece for synthesizer and tape delay. On the other, the Cockpit Ensemble, conducted by Gavin Bryars, plays three variations on Pachelbel’s Canon in D. In other words, Eno split the electronics and the chamber players across two sides. Mico Nonet, by contrast, bring the two together on one record.
Who Should Hear Mico Nonet’s the cardboard falcon
This album suits listeners who keep ambient and modern classical records side by side. It also fits concertgoers curious about what principal players make away from the concert hall. Vinyl collectors who like a double album at 45rpm should take note, too. Start with the title track, then go back to casimir and play it in order.
From the MusicDrops.News curator team: “Read the track list before you press play: squirrel shaped shrubbery, iridescent sludge bubbles, pistachio macrochip. Musicians at this level could have dressed the album in serious titles. Instead, they chose curiosity, and that sense of play is the quickest way into an album made by orchestral principals.”
Follow Mico Nonet
Stream the cardboard falcon on Spotify and Apple Music. Follow Mico Nonet on the Spotify artist page, Apple Music, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Both lightbox videos are on their YouTube channel, and the official website keeps the full news archive.
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