Grab A Free Sun Ra Download Courtesy Of Strut

Strut are to follow up the huge success of their recent Marshall Allen curated compilation In The Orbit Of Ra with another set of highlights from Sun Ra's sprawling discography. This time around, Gilles Peterson is on compilation duties, sifting through the 125+ albums recorded by Ra for chunks of cosmic gold. The result, To Those Of Earth… And Other Worlds is a good introduction to the occasionally baffling output of the father of afrofuturism.

“Sun Ra and the Arkestra were the original DIY group." Writes Peterson. "What went on in 1970s punk with self-pressed records and hand-drawn artwork – Ra was doing that in the '50s and '60s. The music was phenomenal – Sun Ra was the man, the ultimate artist for any vinyl collector."

To celebrate the release, Strut are offering fans the chance to grab a free download. The mournful track When There Is No Sun is currently available on their Bandcamp page for nowt, and very much worth grabbing. In fact, here it is for you now- 

The comp is coming out on 2xCD and 2xLP, with slightly different tracklistings over each. Sleeve notes on physical formats come from Gilles Peterson with a full Ra career biography by author Robert L. Campbell. The album also features previously unseen photos from the archives of Val Wilmer alongside full musician line-ups and session details. Here's what you can expect music-wise:

 
Tracklisting:
 
CD 1
 
1. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – CALLING PLANET EARTH
2. SUN RA – SUN SONG
3. THE COSMIC RAYS WITH SUN RA AND THE ARKESTRA – DREAMING
4. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – INDIA
5. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – SPACE LONELINESS
6. SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC INFINITY ARKESTRA – LOVE IN OUTER SPACE (Vocal)
7. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – ADVENTURE-EQUATION 
8. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – SPONTANEOUS SIMPLICITY (Stereo version)*
9. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – BRAZILIAN SUN
10. SUN RA QUARTET FEATURING JOHN GILMORE – WHEN THERE IS NO SUN
11. SUN RA AND HIS ASTRO INFINITY ARKESTRA – MY BROTHER THE WIND
12. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – MYSTERY, MR. RA*
13. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – BLACK SKY AND BLUE MOON
14. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – WATUSA
15. THE SUN RA ARKESTRA – THE WORLD OF AFRICA
16. SUN RA AND HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA – CLUSTER OF GALAXIES
17. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – STRANGE WORLDS (Live In France)** 
18. SUN RA AND HIS BLUE UNIVERSE ARKESTRA – BLACKMAN
 
CD 2
 
1. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – TWILIGHT
2. SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA – SLEEPING BEAUTY
3. SUN RA – MOOG SOLO (Live In France)**
4. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – THEY PLAN TO LEAVE
5. SUN RA AND HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA – REFLECTS MOTION (Part 1)
6. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – CHILDREN OF THE SUN
7. SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – WE TRAVEL THE SPACEWAYS
8. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – ASTRO BLACK (Live In Zurich)**
9. SUN RA AND HIS MYTHIC SCIENCE ARKESTRA – SOMEBODY ELSE’S IDEA (Live In Paris)
10. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – I ROAM THE COSMOS
11. SUN RA AND HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA – ON JUPITER
12. SUN RA – THERE ARE OTHER WORLDS (THEY HAVE NOT TOLD YOU OF)
13. SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC INFINITY ARKESTRA – THE ALL OF EVERYTHING
14. SUN RA – ENLIGHTENMENT
15. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – MAKE ANOTHER MISTAKE
16. SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – SPACE IS THE PLACE (Live In France)**
 
* Previously unreleased on CD
** Previously unreleased
 
 
 
STRUT125LP
 
A1 SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC INFINITY ARKESTRA – LOVE IN OUTER SPACE (Vocal) 3.50
A2 SUN RA AND HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA – ON JUPITER 4.02
A3 SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – SPONTANEOUS SIMPLICITY (Stereo version)* 3.01
A4 THE COSMIC RAYS WITH SUN RA AND THE ARKESTRA – DREAMING 2.46
A5 SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – BLACK SKY AND BLUE MOON 3.02
 
B1 SUN RA – ENLIGHTENMENT 2.57
B2 THE SUN RA ARKESTRA – THE WORLD OF AFRICA 3.00
B3 SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – THEY PLAN TO LEAVE 6.08
B4 SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – CHILDREN OF THE SUN 4.28
 
C1 SUN RA AND HIS BLUE UNIVERSE ARKESTRA – BLACKMAN 7.44
C2 SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – INDIA 4.50
C3 SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA – MYSTERY, MR. RA 3.07
C4 SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC INFINITY ARKESTRA – THE ALL OF EVERYTHING 4.23
 
D1 SUN RA QUARTET FEATURING JOHN GILMORE – WHEN THERE IS NO SUN 4.35
D2 SUN RA AND HIS INTERGALACTIC MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA – SLEEPING BEAUTY 11.51
D3 SUN RA AND HIS MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA – WE TRAVEL THE SPACEWAYS 3.27