PRIMARY MATERIALS
Links to Sun Ra’s music on bandcamp (free streaming):
We Travel the Spaceways (1956-1961)
Guide to Sun Ra’s albums on bandcamp (Part I), by Patrick Jarenwattananon (2017) — PLEASE READ IN FULL to get an intro to Sun Ra’s biography and musical beginnings:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/sun-ra-album-guide?utm_source=footer
Sun Ra links to sites featuring selections of Sun Ra’s album covers:
https://vinylvault.online/collections/sun-ra
https://www.vinylmeplease.com/blogs/magazine/10-best-sun-ra-albums-own-vinyl
SECONDARY MATERIALS
Tate, Greg. “Rise of the Astro Blacks.” (Essay.)
Youngquist, Paul. “Egypt” (excerpted from A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism). (Book chapter.)
Downloadable pdf of chapters excerpted from Kodwo Eshun, More Brilliant than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction. We are reading (excerpted in the above) the following section:
“PROGRAMMING RHYTHMATIC FREQUENCIES” (pp. 06-078-06-092) (chapter 6, pp. 78-92)
SUPPLEMENTARY/OPTIONAL MATERIALS
Brief blog-type article by Rebecca Bengal discussing Sun Ra’s Afro-futurist clothing/fashion (he made his own clothes), published in Pitchfork:
https://pitchfork.com/features/from-the-pitchfork-review/9866-the-interstellar-style-of-sun-ra/
Music from Sahel Sounds (focused on contemporary music from Mali and Niger) — listen if you want to understand/reflect on the links between the blues, jazz, and polyrhythm and West African music:
Agrim Agadez (compilation):
https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/agrim-agadez
Hali Diallo (musical artist):
https://tallawit.bandcamp.com/album/hali-diallo
Saharan WhatsApp (various):
https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-saharan-whatsapp
Les Filles de Illighadad (musical duo: two Tuareg women):
https://lesfillesdeillighadad.bandcamp.com/album/les-filles-de-illighadad
Contemporary electronic and experimental music site with global reach:
https://stegi.radio/archive/latest
“Further Exploration” of Sun Ra’s albums on Bandcamp (Part II), by Piotr Orlov (2021):
https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/sun-ra-album-guide-2?utm_source=footer