Those who have been following the Cosmology series from its inception will no doubt be familiar with the ad hoc release schedule and will perhaps have grown accustomed to the diverse range of styles that their ep's encompass. Each one has trodden a different path in the pursuit of updating pivotal dancefloor memories and Cosmology volume four is the most ambitious reworking to date. The choice for this instalment's source material is a topical one as the influence here comes from Herman Sonny Blount, better known as the Free Jazz pioneer Sun Ra; this year has seen various celebrations to mark what would have been his 100th Birthday.
The poet & philosopher 's time on this planet was spent largely musing life in outer Space, fighting for better civil rights all whilst building a staggering catalogue of forward thinking music inspired by his radical ideas and a willingness to believe in the infinite possibilities for creating a better world to live in. He is credited as the inspiration behind the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and BAG (Black Artists Group), both groups formed separately during the 60's in Chicago and St Louis to increase awareness and opportunities for creative black artists of the day.
Sun Ra was also one of the very first artists to see the importance of controlling the rights to his own music and his legacy lived on many decades later, loosely shaping the sound and mind-set of the early Detroit techno movement. If you recall that volume 3 focused on political firebrands The Last Poets, you will see that subjects that hold interest for the Cosmologist use their music to convey a particular world view, and who deserve acclaim not only for the body of work they created, but equally for the battles they fought beyond the confines of the studio walls.
The Cosmos and Moog loving Sun Ra, the original Cosmologist in every sense was so far ahead of his time but his spirit is fully reincarnated in Future Space. This reshaping stretches the bounds of what could be classed as an edit, but the Sun Ra ethos can be found indelibly embedded between the groove. The start point for this project was some snatched vocals and the saxophone from the 1972 opus, 'Space is the Place'.
The sax riff was originally recorded in a Quintuple (an unusual 5/4 meter, which anyone familiar with Sun Ra will attest that his chaotic band leading makes the edit process nigh on impossible). Ever up for the challenge, Laurie somehow managed to cajole this into a more friendly 4/4 time signature, which forms the off kilter and strangely hypnotic bassline that underpins the track, leaving just the faintest whisper of the original intact. This mid tempo burner increases the intensity as it progresses, taking its time to wrap itself round you, into your mind and once this haunting melody gets you, you stay got. Left of field adventurers will have fun trying testing their crowd with this, and figuring out what to file it under.
Flip it over and we return to more familiar soulful surroundings, albeit with a notably different sphere of influence and approach from the A side. This too retains that trademark Cosmologist otherworld spaciness and crate diggers and modern soul aficionados will identify the lush, swirling disko gem from Flowers, a hard to come by rarity, entitled For Real. Oozing soul from the opening bar, we have a track where very little reconstruction work was needed, so instead a nuanced yet restrained alteration is employed which retains all the class, and gives it a respectful re-calibration, opening it to a slightly wider range of DJ's to program.
This was recorded during the Christmas break of 2013, but sat in the can for almost a year awaiting another track to pair it up with. Two wildly contrasting edits that will add something to the ongoing what is a remix/ edit debate, this double header will be the perfect storm to bring in the new-year and comes beautifully presented on 180g heavyweight vinyl, with black inner and a spined manila sleeve.
