Singles : the definitive 45s collection 1952-1991

"Just as with everything else in his singular life and career (...), Sun Ra saw [the role of the single] differently. This extensive, career-spanning collection shows him utilising the format as a conduit for one-off artistic statements ... There are as many bizarre novelties and badly recorded sketches here as there are moments of unalloyed beauty. Most were recorded in the 50s, though sporadic gems were issued throughout his career ... Among the huge variety of styles (...) on offer are doo wop numbers such as Dreaming, vocal jazz ditties (Hattie Randolph's wonderful "Round Midnight"), novelty songs about cartoon characters and Christmas ("I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman" and The Qualite's "Christmas Time"), free jazz synth wig-outs ("Cosmo Extensions"), alongside better known masterpieces like "Love In Outer Space", "Nuclear War" and "Disco 2021" ... There's enough previously unissued material, alongside superb liner notes, to make this entertaining collection a boon forRa'sgrowing number of disciples".

"Beginning with some of Ra's early spoken pieces, the set moves into several doo wop and rhythm & blues singles he recorded with vocal combos such as the Nu Sounds and the Cosmic Rays. The songs already touch on outer space themes, even if the music itself is often relatively straightforward. Ra did work with plenty of more bugged-out vocalists, however, including swing singer Billie Hawkins and the incomparable Yochanan ("The Space Age Vocalist") ... On the more straightforward side, there are two lovely renditions of Thelonious Monk tunes sung by Hattie Randolph, including a perfect "'Round Midnight." By the time the set reaches the mid-'60s, Ra and his Arkestra were recording skronky avant-garde pieces ... There are a few tastes of that madness here. [Also included is] the single version of his signature tune, "Rocket #9," which is much slower and bumpier than the fast version on the Space Is the Place album ... Thankfully the infamous "Nuclear War," released as a 12"singleby post-punk label Y Records in 1982, is also included ... The set contains much of Ra's more accessible work, making it an excellent (and very generous) introduction for newcomers, but there's also plenty of material that might've escaped notice from longtime fans".

Read review

"A compilation can only be as good as the artist(s) within it. This is incredible ... "Singles" is gloriously extensive, bizarre, diverse and cerebral - these same qualities also mean the collection is directionless, of nowhere, of anywhere - of space. This vastness is the essence of Sun Ra - it's a head fuck in the best possible way ... What's missing - is the propulsion of his albums. There's no fluidity here in the way Space is the Place so majestically catapults through jazz in a way even Ornette Coleman or an angry John Coltrane couldn't".

Read review

"A richly researched and smartly sequenced compilation of all of Sun Ra's singles, offering a compelling and unique look at the cosmic jazz innovator's genius ... The star man would (...) take up the name Sun Ra, form his ever-changing band the Arkestra, and spend a lifetime teaching the world Afrofuturism, a complex ideology of Black nationalism, Egyptian myth, scientific discovery, science fiction movies and the other-worldly fashion choices he'd flaunt on-stage. Forget "Disco 2000"; Sun Ra was envisioning to the paranoid blips and beeps of "Disco 2021" some 30 years before Pulp showed up. He mastered the electro squiggles of "Planet Rock" prior to the birth of hip-hop, and forged his own form of analogue cyberpunk as Philip K. Dick sat at his typewriter laying out his own dark vision of the future. "Singles" preserves all that for future generations ... Because of the format, "Singles" eschews his lengthier wigouts for shorter vignettes ... Still, there's undoubted powerinhearing Ra's career laid out like this. - "Best new reissue"".

Read review

"Really, it's a snapshot in time for these musicians who never recorded together again. Laidback, of its moment, a tad twee but gossamer light, Johansen's vocals sung in English but with Singh adding Indian words here and there to add to the sense of mysticism, and with a trio of local jazz musicians bringing a touch more accomplishment to the songs. This isn't the first time recently that RC has enjoyed some understated and neglected 70s Norwegian sounds, and as with Bazar's Drabantbyrock a few months back, it's quite a pleasure to find these little gems getting unearthed".

"Celebrated for his cosmic themes and avant-garde "space jazz", the late Sun Ra had a terrestrial side that's revealed on this three-CD compilation of his singles, most of them issued in tiny runs to be sold at gigs ... Home recordings, small group experiments and the spoken credo of I Am an Instrument make for a rich, eventful ride".

Read review