Doctor Auratheft (-) Sun Ra Mixtapes Part 2

Friendly Galaxies (Volume 2)

Spontaneous Simplicity (Volume 3)

download - New Link!!
RS

 

This is the second of five posts, each featuring two of  Dr. Auratheft's Sun Ra mixtapes.  Each mix is offered as 128k web stream and is downloadable at Siebe's AAC 320k upgrades (when available).  Clicking the title above each player will link to the appropriate page on Dr. Auratheft's blog.  Enjoy!

For a couple of years DJ, Historian and Philosopher, Siebe Thissen, who is currently the Public Art Director at Centre for The Arts Rotterdam and holds his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam, hosted a blog that many of you may remember as (-) Dr. Auratheft.  Among his many musical loves, Siebe has a long-time interest (infatuation?) in the music of our favorite Saturnian.  I've enjoyed his Sun Ra mixtures tremendously and with a friend's help was able to collect them all.  I contacted Siebe a couple of months ago and he very generously agreed to comb through his archives and upload 320k upgrades of his original 128k offerings for us to enjoy here at Adventure-Equation.  Incredibly, he even sent an unpublished Ra mixtape for posting here.

Siebe explained that he "started making Ra mixtapes in order to really understand his music as it is not very accessible at first listening. So the tapes are the result of a personal musical-anthropological journey. A lot of people people don't know where to start with Ra. It’s almost impossible to list a ‘best of series’ – you really have got to dig into Ra’s oeuvre.

So I started collecting albums (mainly records borrowed from friends,  CD's and MP3’s found on the web) and started listening carefully to them. Each time I enjoyed a particular track I separated it and stored it in a file. Over the years that file grew (and is still growing) and I started combining selections of tracks into mixtapes. There was an educational aspect: after my discovery of Ra, I wanted to show my circle of friends how amazing and incredible this heritage is and how relevant his music is today.

To update his sound,  I decided not to use the many anarchic-horn-blowing-chaos-tracks. No, I focused on composition instead. And I paid tribute to Ra’s smaller band recordings I like a lot. One of my favorite albums is "God Is More Than Love Ever Can Be" (piano, bass, drums) and I love his piano solo albums. Sun Ra is a mighty composer.

My mixes usually include four ‘Ra styles’: 1) songs, 2) open, slow, free jazz, ‘democratic’ group improvisations, 3) traditionals, 4) piano compositions. So yes, some styles are under represented, like Moog synthesizer improv's and loud group jams. As a fan I think they are interesting and belong to his omniverse, however, as an educator/podcast maker – sharing my love for music with others - I think they contribute less to his greatness."

"There's criticism too. Some people say it's wrong to leave out the noisy, free jazz "chaos parts", since as a listener you need that physical/psychological anxiety to really appreciate the tracks that appear after that noise. Only then you can really appreciate the emerging beauty, crawling out of the chaos and opening up your brain cells. I don't agree. I don't think it is necessary to consider each album a conceptual unity (that's why I never mention in the tracklist from which album a specific track was taken). I do not consider his albums "conceptual unities", however, his total oeuvre forms a unity. I think Ra gives us the freedom to create omniverses ourselves. He shows and sheds light on possible routes – consequently, we have to map our own routes and territories."

There are other folks who think you are not allowed to squeeze Ra into a "Greatest Hits" format. I agree. I never did. That's why I made 10 mixtapes!!! And they are not greatest hits, they are "new albums” – personal interpretations of Ra.  Anyway, no one made Sun Ra mixes before, so why shouldn't I give it try? Or better: I had to. The most beautiful thing is, this music is much more than an oeuvre, the guy represents the music of the 20th century. I consider him a genius."