{"title":"Cosmic Myth","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"strange-strings-expanded-edition-2","title":"Strange Strings (Expanded Edition)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStrange Strings\u003c\/em\u003e is a remastered album with bonus tracks. Liner notes by Irwin Chusid, and an expanded essay by David Toop are included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFans of \u003cstrong\u003eSun Ra's\u003c\/strong\u003e Space Bop and genre-bending jazz were in for a shock with \u003cem\u003eStrange Strings\u003c\/em\u003e. Even in the eclectic and sometimes baffling \u003cstrong\u003eSun Ra\u003c\/strong\u003e catalog, \u003cem\u003eStrange Strings\u003c\/em\u003e is an outlier. It's primitive, it's sophisticated, but it's not a gradient of either. It's brutal, yet highly sensitive. Is it music, or just noise? Or noise as music? John Cage could not be reached for comment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor this album, \u003cstrong\u003eSun Ra\u003c\/strong\u003e collected an arsenal of exotic string instruments and handed them out to his Arkestra on the precept that \"strings could touch people in a special way.\" That the Arkestrans didn't know how to play or tune these instruments was not beside the point- it was the point. \u003cstrong\u003eRa\u003c\/strong\u003e framed it as \"a study in ignorance.\" The result was primitive, yet sophisticated; brutal, yet highly sensitive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn his essay for this expanded edition of the 1967 Saturn LP, musician-curator David Toop calls \u003cem\u003eStrange Strings\u003c\/em\u003e \"saturated in mystery.\" The original 1967 Saturn LP version of \u003cem\u003eStrange Strings\u003c\/em\u003e was monophonic, contained three tracks, and suffered distortion in the mastering (perhaps due to the high-decibel studio performance and excessive reverb). Yet some sessions were captured in stereo. A dozen strange-string works have been located, five of which are included on this remastered edition. (The others have been released on other labels; see discography inside gatefold.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNo track titles appeared on the original Saturn LP verso, but the three works issued were later identified as \"\u003cem\u003eWorld's Approaching\u003c\/em\u003e,\" the LP title track, and an inversion of the title, \"\u003cem\u003eStrings Strange\u003c\/em\u003e.\" A belatedly discovered tape box listed the third recording as \"\u003cem\u003eStrange Strange\u003c\/em\u003e,\" a title which has been used in this edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cosmic Myth","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50403997843787,"sku":"2218439","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50403996598603,"sku":"2218435","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_d68bc5e8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726565582"},{"product_id":"my-brother-the-wind-vol-1","title":"My Brother The Wind Vol. 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eRemastered and expanded edition: \u003ci\u003eMy Brother The Wind, Vol. 1\u003c\/i\u003e captures Afrobeat visionary Sun Ra's initial 1969 encounter with the Moog synthesiser. The album has been meticulously remastered from archival session tapes and includes rare and previously unreleased studio material. This edition of My Brother the Wind, Vol. 1, was co-produced by Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive, and Irwin Chusid, for Cosmic Myth Records. CMR releases will primarily use source tapes from Anderson's archive, the world's foremost collection of original Ra session masters.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cosmic Myth","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50433641906507,"sku":"2198556","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_ae827c8e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726881589"},{"product_id":"when-angels-speak-of-love","title":"When Angels Speak Of Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of a number of sessions cut at the Choreographers Workshop, this 1963 set established Sun Ra’s Arkestra as a New York band, sonically coupled to developments in the decidedly urbane downtown arts underground.The stargazing clamor of the music reflects the intensity of a cultural crossroads where concrete and dust pervade any skyward view, from East 3rd Street to Mars and beyond. One of Sun Ra's rarest releases, it had negligible circulation through records shops upon release. While most of the Saturn output couldn’t get any rarer or mysterious than it  already was, When Angels Speak of Love was released in 1966 it was the most elusive and mysterious in the Sun Ra catalog. Its speculated that the record was issued in two micro runs, with estimates around 150 copies. Hardcore collectors around the world had been searching for this gem to no avail until Evidence Records released a CD of the music in 2000. This updated offering utilizes the actual master tapes and we get to hear the Arkestra in its cosmic mid-60s prime via mono and stereo fidelity. Liner Notes by Clifford Allen. Tracklisting\u0026gt;\u0026gt; 1. Celestial Fantasy 2. The Idea of It All 3. Ecstasy of Being 4. When Angels Speak of Love 5. Next Stop Mars\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cosmic Myth","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50818175435083,"sku":"2227472","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_badd8e6a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1731412229"},{"product_id":"supersonic-jazz","title":"Supersonic Jazz","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded in 1956 and released in 1957, \u003cem\u003eSupersonic Jazz \u003c\/em\u003eis arguably the first long-playing album by Sun Ra and His Arkestra on his Saturn label. However, it was not recorded as a debut. Rather, the album was assembled from tapes recorded during a number of sessions at two Chicago studios (RCA Victor and Balkan), and several tracks had been released as singles before their inclusion on this album. (Sunny's first fully realized commercial album was 1957's Jazz by Sun Ra, produced by Tom Wilson on his short lived\/soon to be defunct Transition label.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrior to these sessions, Sunny was still arranging for the Red Saunders Orchestra and singer Joe Williams, in addition to arranging for and coaching doo-wop ensembles. As Sunny's ambitions achieved liftoff, the Arkestra coalesced, began building a repertoire (mostly of Ra's originals), and making forays into studios. Deciding it was time for commercial releases, Sunny and business partner Alton Abraham launched Saturn (sometimes called El Saturn) as a record company in 1956. As a first offering,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSupersonic Jazz \u003c\/em\u003eis a pinnacle Sun Ra release. While reflecting many prevailing bebop, Latin, and R\u0026amp;B conventions of the mid-1950s, it's evident that Sun Ra's musical voice and vision were starting to propel him away from the jazz mainstream. Biographer John Szwed finds on these recordings \"characteristics which seemed alien to swing, bebop, or the new, more soulful and hard-edged music which was coming to be called hard bop.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cosmic Myth","offers":[{"title":"2CD","offer_id":55941237113163,"sku":"R9349-2174","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":55941237145931,"sku":"R9349-3987","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image_1_e40c7750-c926-4e87-9f1c-3a9dc81e09a5.jpg?v=1763567491"},{"product_id":"east-two-5","title":"East Two+5","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eUnreleased Material from the Archives.\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eEast Two + 5 \u003c\/em\u003ecomprises previously unreleased tracks from one of Sun Ra's most productive periods: 1972-73. Those two hectic years saw Sun Ra recording numerous albums, staging concerts,\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eteaching at Berkeley, acting in and composing the score for a full-length movie, embarking on a multi-album (though ill-fated) major label deal, and touring the U.S. and Europe.\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe title track, \"East Two,\" is one of two pieces on this album originating at a two day October 1972 session at Chicago's Streeterville Studios. It's an ominous, sprawling processional, and the only known\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erecording of this moody work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eArkestra baritone saxophonist Pat Patrick played electric bass on this session, which also featured Ra's typically idiosyncratic synth, along with fine solos from Kwame Hadi\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(trumpet) and Arkestra mainstay John Gilmore (tenor sax). The other track is an alternate version of \"Rocket #9\" where Ra's voice is scarcely heard in the ensemble vocals in favor of the Space Ethnic\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eVoices.\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAdditional material is taken from 1973 Variety Studios sessions in NYC including \"In Tomorrow's Realm,\" where veteran Arkestra bassist Ronnie Boykins provided the anchor with his bass line forming its\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003evital rhythmic framework. This would be the final year Boykins worked regularly with Ra and this track is a fitting tribute to his role in the band, demonstrating how essential he was to Sun Ra's sound.\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eCD version contains additional tracks of two live performances from 1984 and 1985\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cosmic Myth","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57200609493323,"sku":"R1259-5023","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":57200609526091,"sku":"R1259-9013","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3MV9-kpF.jpg?v=1777811971"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/cosmic-myth.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}