The outsized sounds emerging from the Excelsior Mill organ captured here constitute a unique chapter in the Sun Ra story, a dizzying phantasmagoria that offers a whole new view on what Ra could do. It might thrill you; it might unnerve you; it might strum your heartstrings; it might spook the living daylights out of you. Most likely you’ll experience all of the above before the jolting musical jeremiad is done. Pressed on violet vinyl! When you’re Sun Ra, you don’t need synthesizers to evoke apocalyptic visions and interstellar excursions. You don’t even need a band. Ra is most widely known for working with various iterations of his Arkestra, but he was no stranger to unaccompanied keyboard expeditions. His discography contains solo piano albums, solo Fender Rhodes records, and solo recordings on conventional organ, the latter going as far back as his home recordings from the 1940s. But none of those instruments ever offered Sun Ra the kind of sonic artillery that waited beneath his fingers and feet when he sat before the keyboards, pedals, and multicolored constellation of tabs controlling the Wurlitzer pipe organ. Mystic and magisterial, Ra comes off here like a cross between a demonically riffing ‘50s horror movie villain and a futuristic congregation leader delivering the interplanetary gospel. Brassy stabs provide the kind of punctuation that could be graphically rendered as an endless string of exclamation marks in 500-point font. String-like swoops and swirls dance across the top of the carnage, cooling the flames just enough to keep the whole thing from combusting (for a while at least) but never dousing the fiery fury that Ra draws forth from the instrument.
Release date:
May 24, 2024
Label:
Install our app to receive notifications when new upcoming releases are added.

Recommended equipment and accessories
-
Vinyl Care - Top Picks
A selection of accesories to keep your turntable equipment & vinyl records in the best shape
-
Turntables - Top Picks
A selection of reliable record players you can buy today, for every budget
-
Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge
Features an elliptical stylus that accurately tracks the grooves of vinyl records, delivering a rich, detailed sound with an output voltage of 5.5 mV
-
Nagaoka MP-110H Cartridge
Features a high-quality elliptical stylus that provides excellent tracking and minimizes distortion, delivering a detailed sound reproduction with an output voltage of 5.0 mV
-
HumminGuru: Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner
Advanced ultrasonic technology with customizable cleaning cycles and a large tank capacity to thoroughly remove dust, dirt, and contaminants
Featured Upcoming Vinyl
-
Ceresian Valot Uumen
Prophecy
May 23, 2025 -
Finn Wolfhard Happy Birthday
Night Shift Productions, Inc
June 6, 2025 -
Divide & Dissolve Insatiable
Bella Union
April 18, 2025 -
Ist Ist On Fire (Orange & Yellow)
Kind Violence
April 4, 2025 -
Armory Show Dead Souls (Wedgewood Blue)
Last Night Glasgow
April 4, 2025 -
Dirkschneider Balls To The Wall Reloaded (Blue)
-
Samantha Crain Gumshoe (Red)
Real Kind
May 2, 2025 -
Glare Sunset Funeral
Deathwish Inc
April 4, 2025 -
Vindicator Communal Decay
Nltm Records
April 4, 2025 -
The Situation Audio Proxemics
Situationism
April 25, 2025 -
Billy Nomates Metalhorse (Silver)
Invada Records
May 16, 2025 -
Trans Groove Express a Musical Journey to Trans Groove Express A Musical Journey To The Other Side Of Express Records Selected By Muro
Fourth Wave Record
May 2, 2025 -
Frankie and the Witch Fingers Trash Classic
Ras Greenway
June 6, 2025 -
Epica Aspiral (Gold) [2xLP]
Nuclear Blast
April 11, 2025