Sun Ra [wiki] has always made me curious, and not just because
he dressed better than anyone in music ever has or
ever will; but because, as a general rule, the more insane the artist, the more engaging the art. I don't necessarily agree with
Rolling Stone, who describe him in a re-issue review as "the missing link between Duke Ellington and Public Enemy". I would say that he's more the missing link between, say, half a roast chicken, and
Alf. He had a
thing, and he did his
thing without giving a damn about why the oven has a top hat in it or peanuts peanuts PEANUTS PEANUTS. aaaaaand the batman symbol.
Listen to this album is like reading that email forward about mixing up letters in words, but keeping the first and last letter the same. Yuor barin is sepospud to be albe to put the wrdos bcak teteghor. The horns are out of tune, but they loudly proclaim that being out of tune is ok. Actually, no. They loudly
ask if it's ok if they play out of tune, and seem to be waiting for an answer throughout the whole album. The answer doesn't really matter - asking the question is enough for Sun Ra. I think that was his intention.
That, and also, aliens from Saturn told him to do it.
It's easy to label him as a fruitloop, especially after hearing his music. There's cacophony, atonalism, seemly random sound collage, and just downright
noise. If there's one thing that stands out the most though, it's the sense that Sun Ra had a vision that described where he wanted to go. I have no idea what that vision might have been, and it's impossible to really know. I suspect that if he was alive, and you asked him, you wouldn't understand the answer. One thing I do know though - I'm envious of such strong conviction. He didn't give a fuck about what anyone else thought.
Find your
thing, and go do your
thing with every ounce of strength in your body, and don't give a shit what anyone else thinks.
Sun Ra told me to do it.