God and Science.

I have been having an interesting conversation on Facebook with some friends concerning God and Science. Why is it that some christians seem to believe that the existence of God is mutually exclusive to modern science, particularly the theory of evolution, and, on the other hand, the discoveries of modern science mutually exclude the existence of God.
When I was much younger, I was taught about all these things that science had discovered about the nature of our reality and at the same time, to a much lesser extent, I osmosed some ideas from the Bible, which was supposed to be the difinitive word of God. These two meme's seemed to me to contradict each other maximally and therefore only one could be the truth. In our physical reality, most of the theories of science that we were taught were quantifiable, observable and describable. We knew them to be truths. God on the other hand was unprovable, unknowable, unseeable. Belief in God was an article of Faith. Of Course reality is much more complicated that that. I personally had great difficulty in having absolute faith in something that could not actually be proven to actually exist along with a severe allergy to organised religion and a strong abhorrence of the Bible. I was pretty much a scientist, so to speak, God did not exist and religion was for the sad, weak and deluded.
Interestingly enough I eventually had a change of mind about the existence of something that could loosely be described as God, and funnily enough I arrived there via science. The first "Breakthrough" came as a sort of epiphany, where I thinking about the energy that animates us, not just the chemical reactions that help our body function, but the energy that is our life force. I don't really know the science behind it but I came to a belief that life is energy, living is a force, the so called life force. If our life force is a form of energy, then I knew that physics teaches us that energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be converted into a different forms of energy and therefore our life energy(or Soul) cannot be destroyed, only transformed. Before this I just believed that after you died there was nothing. Sometime after that I read a book called the "Tao of Physics" which pointed out the similarities between the theories of Quantum Physics and the concepts of Eastern religious thought. This was an important book for me. Later on I got into some Spiritual type books which then helped me to form the concepts of God that I now have.
 For many "Christians" their concepts of God and Jesus appear to be mostly derived from the Bible. This Book has perhaps been the most influential book in history. Unfortunately many many historical atrocities have been committed by believers of the contents of this book, and so many still defend this book and idolise it as if it were a God itself. Others seem to believe that it is the WORD of God himself, and for a book so full of cruelty and violence and contradictions....well. I tried to read it once, just to say that I had, After getting introduced to this god who was so judgemental and vengeful and cruel if he didn't get his own way, I gave up in disgust. I know not all the Bible is like that but if it is the word of God and a guide for us then I think it should be consistent. Another issue I have with it is the vagueness of so much of it and how it has been interpreted by many to justify their unholy behaviour. Just the other day I watched that movie 12 years A Slave, and the slave owner was quoting some scripture from the Bible that he interpreted as his justification to own slaves and treat them as animals. The Bible was written by Men, Men who lived a very long time ago and who had what we might now call a much more primitive outlook on life and God. It was inspired by God but not written by God. It is full of the moors and beliefs of a culture that has far less relevance to today's world. You don't have to believe in the Bible to believe in God. It is time we stopped idolising this BOOK and treated it as for what it is, an historical and mythological text with some useful wisdom thrown in for good measure.
Getting back to the title of this rambling, God & Science, the point I am trying to make is that the belief in God doesn't exclude the belief in the truth of science. I guess the best example of this is the theory of Evolution. Many believers of the Bible believe in the Creation Myth and the Adam and Eve Myth that is in the first book of the Bible and is taught to many children at Sunday School. Apparently it has been calculated from the Bible that the world is just over 4000 years old. The scientific evidence states that the Earth is about 4.5 Billion years old and the universe is around 16 Billion years old and that life first appeared on our planet about 3.5 Billion years ago before a long slow process of evolution and extinctions lead to the appearance of primitive species of hominids about 4 million years ago. The debate today seems to be between the Creationists who I believe fully support the narrative in Genesis and the evolutionists who has amassed a large a large amount of evidence to support their theory. Apparently, in some southern parts of the USA creationism is taught in schools. The process of evolution should in no way discount the Idea of creationism, Who instigated the process of evolution in the first place, I don't think evolution and creationism are mutually exclusive. The mechanics of evolution is suppose to be natural selection or survival of the fittest, I'm not sure how they proved this as the process is extremely slow, over hundreds of millennia. And it may be instead of it all being a process of chance, as it appears to be, there might be some other underlying process we don't even suspect yet. When I watch some of those nature program on TV and the way nature has evolved into so many wonderfully complex systems and how those systems all support each other in a never ending symbiotic chain of life, I am just awestruck buy the beauty and complexity and the awesome creativity of it all. Words fail me to describe the wonder of nature. I just cannot believe that this magnificence all came about by chance. By chance mutations with no actual plan or outcome in mind. I believe there is intelligence behind the designs of nature.

Sun Ra - Stardust From Tomorrow (USA 1996)

And some more Sun Ra.

Finally got through all my recent arrivals with this last release, the rest of the concert from the previous post(Austria 1989) released on a double CD set. A reasonable sounding recording of an average sounding late period Ra concert. The usual stuff with some old Ra standards and some untitled improvisations. Careful attention needed to appreciated the subtle qualities and wade through the chaos. Rating 2.5/5.

Sun Ra - Second star to the Right(Salute to Walt Disney) (USA 1995)

And yet more Sun Ra

A live recording released by Leo Records, who released several other quality Ra recordings, culled from a larger set from an Austrian concert in 1989 using an audience recording. It is therefore quite surprising the sound quality of this set. Not a big fan of Disney music myself so this isn't one record I will revisit a lot, but there are some interesting moments and of course Ra puts his unique bent onto the music. Rating 2.5/5.

John Zorn - Filmworks V - Tears Of Ecstasy (Tzadik 1996)

And More filmworks.

Now getting back to Zorn's Filmworks and this volume of soundbites for this Japanese film. Like many of his previous soundtracks, we have 48 short pieces that cover a huge array of styles, many of which are quite catchy and very interesting but all mostly feel unfinished. Still and interesting collection of sounds. Rating 3.5/5.

John Zorn - Psychomagia (Tzadik 2014)

More From Zorn.

A great album of new Zorn compositions for the rock outfit Abraxas, who did  one of the Book Of Angels volumes. This is full tilt progressive rock for the 21st century and the playing is exemplary. I like this set more than their Masada set. Rating 4.5/5.  

David Gould - Adonai in Dub (Tzadik 2001)

Some Earlier Tzadik.

Now here is something different from Tzadik, A Dub album. I am quite familiar with dub as we have a strong scene here in New Zealand and this release fits in quite well with local recordings I have, but  with a slightly more world music tinge. As with most Dub, play up loud for best results and let the groove move ya. Rating 4/5.

John Zorn - Filmworks XX - Sholem Aleichem (Tzadik 2008)

John Zorn Filmworks.

The Masada string trio with a little help from an accordion and a harp was always going to be a must have for my collection and this wonderful set of very accessible tunes lives up to expectations. A lovely mellow set of world music cum jazz that will impress any fan of Zorn's Masada works. Rating 4/5.

Ha-Yang Kim - Threadsuns (Tzadik 2014)

More from Tzadik.

This is a great release, I am really enjoying it, 3 pieces for string quartet with some dirges and almost ambient in flavour, quite mellow but a little haunting. Tzadik again exposes me to something I would normally never get to hear. Rating 4.5/5. 

Sun Ra - The Paris Tapes (Live At Le Theatre Du Chatelet 1971) (ArtYard 2010)

More Sun Ra.

Art Yards recent release of this 1971 concert in Paris, which I think was their first visit to Europe. A reasonably good quality sounding recording of  the Archestra in action and a reasonably enjoyable set apart from the mass percussion pieces which sound like a wall of noise and can go on for considerable time and sound really boring on record but may make more sense in the context of the concert if you were physically present. Rating 3/5.

Tobias Picker - Invisible Lilacs (Tzadik 2014)

Latest Tzadik Arrivals.

The Tzadik Composer Series is exposing me to all kinds of contemporary classical music and mostly from people I am not familiar with although many of them are highly rated in the "scene". Picker is new to me although he has been around for quite a while. Somewhat more melody here than some of the other releases I have so far and this is an enjoyable set of compositions. I could almost play this for visitors without scaring them off. Rating 3.5/5.

John zorn - Fragmentations,Prayers and Interjections. (Tzadik 2014)

More Zorn.

Zorn has had another prolific start to the year with four releases already so far and 2 more on the near horizon. Although this CD is released under the Mystic Series, It is actually a set of 4 classical compositions for a large ensemble. The music here will be familiar in style for those who have explored his other works in the classical vein. I do enjoy this release but am unable to really describe the music within except that it is fairly avant-garde sounding. The music is challenging and somewhat disjointed and chaotic. I am familiar with this type of composition as Frank Zappa's orchestral recording were of a similar nature. But for me the best composer of this sort of thing was Edgard Varese. Rating 3.5/5.

Sun Ra - Media Dreams (USA 1978)

The Latest Sun Ra Arrival.

With a busy work load comes a higher income and more excess cash and in my case, some of that excess gets used on buying CDs. There is quite a back log of new CDs arrived that I am listening too at present and have been struggling to find time to blog them, but with my back playing up again, tramping and gardening are not things I can reliably indulge in and even working is slightly difficult at present. So its time to make some quick entries on these recent arrivals.

Art Yard seems to have targeted a specific period in the Sun Ra discography for their releases with a considerable number of them coming from the late 70s and it may be due to the fact that this period is an extremely creative one for Ra as far as I am concerned. Media Dreams is another release from this period that stands well above much of his other work and has some great soloing from Gilmore and Ray over some interesting electronic noodling from Ra. Also with an additional second disc of  a live recording offering up a great Ra piano solo amongst other electronic solos, this release is essential for Sun Ra affectionardos. Rating 4.5/5.

Are We Alone?

One of the best things about the Star Wars movie series is the fact that they are set in a Galaxy far far away. There is no planet Earth and although most of the main characters are human, they are not US. I struggle to think of another Sci-fi film where Earth and its Human inhabitants were not central in the story or the dominant race or the victims who fight back and ultimately win etc etc... Most Sci-fi is Earth and Human-centric. So it appears that Hollywood still believes that Earth is the center of the Universe, like the old times where we believed the universe physically rotated around our planet. I wonder, although the movie makers can dream up some fantastic aliens, if the dominant ideology is that we ARE alone in all the Cosmos. God I sincerely hope not. There is beginning to look like a strong possibility that we may be extinct within the next couple of hundred years. I recently read something posted on Facebook saying that if the amount of CO2 and whatever other pollutants we keep pumping into our atmosphere reach a certain concentration then we pass a point of no return for possible human extinction, not to mention many other species. This threshold is approaching fast and could be reached within the next decade or less.
Here is the text of what was posted.

Climate! Serious consequences.
WE HAVE ONLY FIVE YEARS IN PRACTICAL TERMS TO AVOID SEVERE RISKS OF EXTINCTION -HUMAN AND VERTEBRATE.

Does this seem a little far fetched and alarmist? Please follow me as I trace a broad brush strokes line through some contributing logic to this claim.

1 ) WHERE ARE WE NOW?
CO2 has reached 400ppm which has not been seen for 3M years and is rising rapidly
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=648593438516205&set=a.428114147230803.91966.428111240564427&type=1&theater
We are already nearly half way through the critical decade, with no reductions in CO2 emissions in sight. If emissions were to peak now we are close to needing a very difficult 5% reduction of CO2 per year to keep global temperature to a "safe" level of 2 degrees.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/the-critical-decade-part-3-emissions-reductions.html

2 ) WHAT IS THIS DOING TO THE OCEANS?
CO2 has been buffered by oceans but ocean acidity is rising steadilyhttp://news.mongabay.com/2012/0305-hance_oceanacid_massextinction.html

3 ) WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US AND THE FOOD CHAIN?
Photosynthesis produces O2 both on land and in the ocean. Scientists like Dr Sylvie Earle estimate 70-80% of worlds O2 comes from marine life like phytoplankton. However higher temperatures and the associated lower pH (higher acidity) affects the early calcification of zoo plankton which will lead severe consequences for the marine food chain and survival of fish, let alone sharks and cetaceans.
https://theconversation.com/if-warming-oceans-leave-algae-hungry-well-go-hungry-too-17969
http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/acidification/
Also ocean acidity and temperature may well radically change the amount of, and composition of phytoplankton species with probable grave affects on ocean photosynthesis; also causing severe effects on food production, migrations and population levels throughout the ocean biosphere.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sweeping-change-in-phytoplankton

4 ) WHERE ARE WE HEADING?
New research confirms higher projections for temperature rises, at least 4 degrees by 2100 and may be 8 degrees by 2200
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/31-1

5 ) WHAT DOES HISTORY TELL US?
Most major extinction events were around 6 degrees, ocean pH is trending however towards the levels of the very worst event in only hundreds of years -the Permian - where the planet was fried back to the level of a slime ball for aeons and aeons.http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0305-hance_oceanacid_massextinction.html

6 ) WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO TO PREVENT THIS?
Referring back to the carbon budget critical decade emissions levels graph, we had only 10 years at the beginning of the decade to avoid major tipping points. These include the current irreversible melting of the Polar ice sheet, with Greenland and West Antarctic starting. These tipping points will accelerate global warming. If we can act within this decade we can greatly improve our odds in saving the human race! The later we leave it, the worst it gets. Really we have ONLY FIVE YEARS to start to reduce emissions, as no Government has been able to do any better than 3% per year. At 5 years we need reductions that are only associated with the severest of social disruptions like in Cuba (5-6%). At the end of this ten years we would need an politically improbable 9% rate of CO2 emissions reduction per year.

http://www.skepticalscience.com/the-critical-decade-part-3-emissions-reductions.html

7 ) HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS TRUE?
SPREADSHEET AND DISCUSSION
Here is a very comprehensive spreadsheet with many papers cited that shows the utter urgency for avoiding the very grave consequences of global warming. Please follow through the spreadsheet and see how that if we do nothing we face severe risks of human extinction in under 200 years. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc...

We must act now. Referring back to the Carbon Budget, we are almost at the mid point of the critical decade. If emissions peaked today we would face the politically very difficult task of instigating a 4% drop in CO2 emissions to stave off the otherwise inevitable rise 3 degrees warming by mid or late this century. At this point we will be faced with the grave consequences of irreversible tipping points - the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, the Amazon burning or at best turning into savannah, and the desertification of many temperate areas including Southern Europe. Continued warming will now be out of human control; levels over 5 degrees would be associated with extinction levels of over 40% of species, with hurricanes with 40% more power. Lethal heat stress will become a very significant ingredient in reducing human population.
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2013/20130415_Exaggerations.pdf

It is not so clear whether contributions from CO2 emissions from melting permafrost would be significant. No one sane would risk a comparable extinction to the Permian event, where 96% of marine species, 57% of all families and 83% of genera - 95% of all life on earth - perished, with a mere 10 million years of recovery required.

Agricultural impacts may well prove to be the most important in the end, with further devastating effects on human population levels at temperatures over 5 degrees of warming. Human populations are likely to have already been reduced to below a tithe from the vastly reduced carrying capacity of agricultural land, and subsequent gross global shortages of food, leading to war.

Although these scenarios are not clear, what is clear is at temperatures over 6 degrees there will be, at best, a vastly reduced human population living in dire circumstances that we have only yet glimpsed in the pages of novels such as Level 7 or Dr Strangelove.

http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/booklets/warming_world_final.pdf

CONCLUSION

WE MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID SEVERE RISKS OF FUNCTIONAL HUMAN EXTINCTION IN UNDER TWO HUNDRED YEARS

We need strong emission reductions beginning now! Australia has a carbon budget of less 10 billion tons left before we must become carbon neutral, if we are to do our fair share in slowing global warming! https://theconversation.com/steep-emissions-cuts-needed-or-well-blow-australias-carbon-budget-climate-authority-23425

I wish to acknowledge significant help with this attempt by myself as a concerned activist only, in this quick traverse - a climate warming trajectory wake up call - from a group of climate science workers, the remaining faults are all mine.

The threat of severe consequences from untrammelled CO2 emissions is very very real. We have very little time. We must start reducing emissions NOW.

Sally Newell

Now this would be most unfortunate if it turns out that we were the only planet with "intelligent" life in the entire universe. It would seem like the whole Universe was just a waste of time if the only intelligent species destroys itself before it even steps foot outside its own solar system. It would also seem a cosmic waste to have a Universe so mind blowingly vast, so enormously populated with uncountable stars and galaxies that was completely void of life except on one tiny blue planet on the outer reaches of  of an obscure galaxy.
Surely that would make life a joke.
Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is made up of over 100 billion stars(suns), a huge number. This is just one galaxy, the entire KNOWN universe apparently contains an estimated 100 BILLION Galaxies, some of which may be far larger than our own and it is estimated that there may be somewhere in the vicinity of  300 sextillion (3×1023) stars in the Universe(fuck me! Can I have a .000001 of a dollar for every star in the universe). We now know that there are planets around many stars in our galaxy and one could assume that the same applies to all other galaxies. That makes for quite a few planets. Possibly Trillions just in our galaxy alone.
Life on other planets? Got to be, better be, their might not be any on ours for too much longer. Considering  how prolific life is on our planet, I would imagine the universe to be absolutely teaming with life.Oh I so look forward to the day when it is proved beyond doubt.

Neil Young - Live At The Cellar Door (USA 1970/2013)

Latest new arrival.

Just a quick note on this new Neil Young CD that I finally got around to purchasing, Something like the 6th volume in the Performance series and it is another Neil solo acoustic gig recorded in 1970. Nothing short of brilliant, with a raft of extremely familiar songs played and sung beautifully by Neil on Piano and acoustic guitar. This was a very intimate gig with only a smattering of applause between tracks and the intimacy of the occasion definitely shines through in the renditions of these songs, as it is noticeable when  listening to it in conjunction with the Massey Hall gig the following year, which was a bigger hall and audience. The Massey Hall CD is also brilliant, but this one just pips it for me. Neil solo is just the best and the sound quality is excellent, highly recommended and compulsory for serious Neil fans. Rating 5/5.

Guangxi Yulin Dog-Meat Festival

Some More Thoughts.

I get all sorts of information coming at me on Facebook from many of my socially conscious friends and plenty of these posts get me thinking about all sorts. One that caught my attention the other day is a post against the Guangxi Yulin Dog-Meat Festival  in China. This is a festival where thousands of dogs are slaughtered and eaten in a week long festival. Of course I was revolted by the idea of eating dogs and apparently in the past the dogs were slaughtered in the streets in full view. This goes against the grain for most of us in the West and the post was asking for support to help stop the festival. I got to thinking about this and my initial thinking was although I was "offended" by the idea(we have a dog and she is part of the family) I also thought about my judging other cultures and their activities. After all, other countries eat dogs and other cultures eat all sorts of things that we would not touch even if we were near death from starvation. We eat Cows, which are sacred in India and we eat pork which is not Kosher for the Jews. Horse is eaten in some Central Asian countries also, which is another meat the west has an aversion to, probably mainly due to the fact that horses are also pets for many people. No doubt people have been eating dog for thousands of years, but I'll leave it alone thanks. So although I got to a place where I could be ok with people eating dogs, I was still not at all impresses by the whole Idea of this festival and the practices undertaken. There is considerable support, even in China itself, to stop this festival. Of course the locals themselves are not impressed with outsider reaction and fall back on the age old excuse that it is part of their Culture. Again I got to thinking who am I to judge another's Culture and the customs that define that culture. Many people seem to think that Cultures are somehow sacred, unchanging, and are forever, but that is not true, all cultures change and evolve in reaction to the changing world which informs them, and it looks to me that many people defend particularly horrid and destructive practices in that they are part of their Culture and are therefore beyond reproach. So I'm taking another approach now, the world isn't a bunch of isolated Cultures any more, all cultures are open to scrutiny of all other cultures and many are found wanting in our modern and supposedly civilised world. Claiming Cultural imperatives is not longer acceptable  for those "Primitive" Cultures who think it is their God given right to rape their women, to slaughter seals as part of a "Manhood rite", To kill the female babies in their families, to mutilate female sexual organs, To sell their children into slavery, to exterminate another culture because it is not like them, and the list goes on. Yes we should stand up and protest against these cultural depravities because they create so many victims, it might be "cultural" to treat Women the way they do in Saudi-Arabia but do the Women like it? I doubt it, but they are not allowed to voice their unhappiness at the way they are treated. Finally, don't for a moment think that I think that our Western Culture is Perfect. One of the defining things of Western Culture is Economy and it has become our god. A god of such appetites that it may yet lead to the destruction of the human race and the planet we inhabit, but that is another post altogether.  

Sun Ra - The Complete Detroit Jazz Center Residency December 26th 1980 - January 1st 1981 (28 CDs) (Transparency 2008)

The Mother of all Ra Live recordings.

Tracklist

Friday December 26, 1981

Disc One 67:37

1st Set

Sun Ra Accepts The Key To The City Of Detroit

Discipline 27

Untitled Improv

Queer Notions

Yeah Man!

Round Midnight

Space Loneliness

Lady Bird

Half Nelson

Cocktails For Two

Big John's Special

Love In Outer Space (Includes Long Drum Section)

Disc Two 67:32

Fate In A Pleasant Mood

Space Is The Place

Untitled Improv

We Travel The Spaceways

Gone With The Wind

Encore

Angel Race / This Place Is Not My Home / Stranger In Paradise / Astro Nation

Greetings From The 21st Century / Interplanetary Music / Moonship Journey / Next Stop Mars / Second Stop Is Jupiter / Rocket Number Nine / Do That Thang / Pluto Too

2nd Set

Discipline 27

Untitled Improv

Untitled Improv

Enlightenment

The Satellites Are Spinning

Blue Lou

Unidentified Title

Disc Three 39:58

Spontaneous Simplicity

Images

Unidentified Blues

Stompy Jones

Over The Rainbow

I Can't Get Started

Saturday December 27, 1980

Disc Four 72:42

1st Set

Untitled Improv

Hymn To The Sun

Untitled Improv

Untitled Improv

Untitled Improv (Organ And Percussion)

Big John's Special

Unidentified Title

Take The A Train

Lightnin'

Disc Five 56:32

Slippery Horn

Solitude

Exactly Like You

The Mayan Temples

The Sound Mirror

Right Road, Wrong Direction

Bad Truth

Shoulder To Shoulder

Sea Of Immortality

To Be Or Not To Be

Ra Ra Ra

Over The Rainbow

Calling Planet Earth

Enlightenment

The Satellites Are Spinning

Disc Six 74:38

Love In Outer Space

Yeah Man!

Space Is The Place

We Travel The Spaceways

Announcer

2nd Set

Untitled Improv (Kora)

Discipline 27-11

The Same Sun Is Shining Now / Computer In The Sky / Private Eye In The Sky / Another Kind Of Glory / I Have Many Names / Mystery, Mr. Ra / You Have No Life Certificate / I Am A Different Kind Of Being / The Universe Sent Me To Converse With You / Stranger In Paradise / Do You Have Rights For Angels? / I Use Planets For Stepping Stones / Bad Truth / You're Just Babies In The Universe

Bad Truth / Moonship Journey / Sea Of Immortality / Astro Nation / Angel Race / This World Is Not My Home / I'll Wait For You

Greetings From The 21st Century / Rocket Number Nine / Second Stop Is Jupiter

Disc Seven 74:34

Untitled Improv

We'll Be Together Again

The Sunny Side Of The Street

King Porter Stomp

Spontaneous Simplicity

Space Loneliness

Lights On A Satellite

Watusi

Disc Eight 15:54

Big John's Special

Strange Celestial Road

Hit That Jive Jack / Gone With The Wind

Announcer

Sunday December 28, 1980

Disc Nine 72:31

1st Set

Untitled Improv (Kora) / Jingle Bells / Untitled Improv / Hymn To The Sun

Along Came Ra / Mystery Mr. Ra

Discipline 27 / Untitled Improv / Unidentified Title

Unidentified Title

Unidentified Blues

Three Little Words

Disc Ten 77:34

Sleeping Beauty

Fate In A Pleasant Mood

El Is A Sound Of Joy

South America

Africa

The Satellites Are Spinning

Saturn Rings / Journey To Saturn / Saturn Rings

Announcer

Disc Eleven 58:02

2nd Set

Untitled Improv

Unidentified Title

Discipline 27-11

You Are Living On The Other Side Of Time / I Am Sin / Sunset

The Same Sun Is Shining Now / Private Eye In The Sky

You'd Better Mind What You're Saying

Untitled Improv

Deep Purple

Unidentified Title

Big John's Special

Yeah Man!

Disc Twelve 65:16

Body And Soul

Queer Notions

Discipline 99

Images

Unidentified Blues

Lady Bird

Half Nelson

Watusi

Disc Thirteen 30:55

Destination Unknown / Untitled Improv / Untitled Improv (Synthesizer) / Destination Unknown

Space Is The Place

We Travel The Spaceways

Rocket Number Nine / Next Stop Mars / Second Stop Is Jupiter / Journey To Saturn / Saturn Rings / Third Heaven / Neptune

Monday December 29, 1980

Disc Fourteen 58:23

Unidentified Title (Kora, Bass, Percussion, Etc)

Pleiades (Flutes And Bells Only)

Before Sun Comes Out

Discipline 27 / Unidentified Improv

Spontaneous Simplicity

Oblique Parallax (Organ And Synthesizer Only)

Queer Notions

Big John's Special

Yeah Man!

Disc Fifteen 46:43

Lights On A Satellite

Love In Outer Space

We'll Be Together Again (Organ And Rhythm Only)

Disc Sixteen 58:13

Space Loneliness

Destination Unknown / The Space Age Is Here To Stay / Unidentified Improv (Synthesizer Only) / Calling Planet Earth

Space Is The Place

We Travel The Spaceways / Angel Race / This World Is Not My Home / I'll Wait For You / I Could've Enjoyed Myself On The Planet / Greetings From The 21st Century / Rocket Number Nine / Next Stop Mars / Second Stop Is Jupiter / Why Go To The Moon / Satellites Are Spinning / Journey To Saturn / We Travel The Spaceways / Interplanetary Music / Face The Music / Strange Celestial Road / Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space / Hit That Jive, Jack / Gone With The Wind

Encore

Astro Nation

King Porter Stomp

Fate In A Pleasant Mood

Announcer

Tuesday December 30, 1980

Disc Seventeen 55:25

Untitled Improv (Kora, French Horn, Etc)

Discipline 27 / Untitled Improv (Alto Sax, Trumpet, Etc.)

The Last Days / Crazy As A Daisy

Calling Planet Earth

Queer Notions

What's New?

Springtime Again

Space Loneliness

Cocktails For Two

Disc Eighteen 60:23

Lights On A Satellite

Big John's Special

Love In Outer Space

Enlightenment

The Shadow World

Disc Nineteen 44:30

The Shadow World (Continued)

Journey To Stars Beyond (Part 2) / Space Is The Place

Over The Rainbow (Organ Only)

Space Is The Place

We Travel The Spaceways / Outer Spaceways Inc. / We Travel The Spaceways / Hit That Jive, Jac / Moonship Journey / Greetings From The 21st Century / Rocket Number Nine / Second Stop Is Jupiter / Why Go To The Moon / I'll Wait For You / We Travel The Spaceways / Angel Race / Stranger In Paradise / This World Is Not My Home / We Travel The Spaceways

Announcer

Wednesday December 31, 1980

1st Set - 8:00 PM

Disc Twenty 56:24

Untitled Improv (Percussion. Kora) / Untitled Improv (Horns) / Unidentified Title (Flutes)

Auld Lang Syne

Astro Black

Tapestry From An Asteroid

Along Came Ra

Discipline 27

Island In The Sun

Disc Twenty-One 48:14

A Foggy Day

How Am I To Know?

Images

New Horizons

There Will Never Be Another You

Celestial Realms

Stardust From Tomorrow

Enlightenment

Disc Twenty-Two 42:06

Somebody Else's Idea / I Wouldn't Make A World Like This

Bad Truth / Somebody Might Push The Button

The Impossible Is Your Only Hope / Sea Of Immortality

Untitled Improv

They'll Come Back / There Are Other Worlds / Take The Big Gamble (On The Dark Horse)

Announcement: Get Your Passport From Me

2nd Set - 11:00 PM

Disc Twenty-Three 59:40

Untitled Improv (Percussion, Kora)

When There Is No Sun / Are You Spotless?

Discipline 27-11 / I Am The Tempter / I Use Planets For Stepping Stones / Discipline 27-11

Auld Lang Syne

Big John's Special

El Is The Sound Of Joy

Beyond The Purple Star Zone (Journey To Stars Beyond) (Part 1)

The World Of Africa

Rose Room

Disc Twenty-Four 57:21

Halloween In Harlem

Journey To Saturn / Saturn's Rings

You Got To Head Out To Space One Day / Never Never Land

Everything Is Space

Fate In A Pleasant Mood

Strange Worlds / Black Myth

Medicine For A Nightmare / Untitled Improv

Rocket Number Nine / The Space Age Is Here To Stay

Face The Music

Disc Twenty-Five 59:47

St. Louis Blues

Watusi

Sunology / The Lion Of The Heavens

Planet Earth

Third Heaven / Why Go To The Moon? We Travel The Spaceways / Imagination

Announcer

Thursday January 1, 1981

3rd Set - 3:00 AM

Disc Twenty-Six 19:49

On Green Dolphin Street

Untitled Improv

Outer Space Is Such A Pleasant Place

Myth Vs Reality

Strange Worlds / Black Myth

Disc Twenty-Seven 72:43

Untitled Improv

Vista Omniverse (Organ And Synthesizer Only)

Tea For Two

Blue Lou

King Porter Stomp

Yeah, Man!

Deep Purple

Keep Your Sunny Side Up

Interstellar Low Ways

The Satellites Are Spinning

Stompin' At The Savoy

Mayan Temples

Disc Twenty-Eight 60:12

Unidentified Title

Queer Notions

Willow Weep For Me

Space Loneliness

Round Midnight

Limehouse Blues

Discipline 99

Space Is The Place / We Travel The Spaceways / Greetings From The 21st Century / Strange Celestial Road

Announcer

I briefly mentioned this CD Box Set several months ago after it arrived in my mail box. It could quite possibly be the only copy in NZ. This version of this release is the 2008 second addition of 500 after the initial 400 from 2007 on CDr, so they are getting pretty rare. It is not a lavish affair by all means, the packaging consists of a cool plastic hinged box with binder rings to hold the plastic sleeves that the Cds slip into. The track list is a printed list on 2 sheets of folded A3 paper. The list of musicians does not quite match those listed in "The Earthly Recordings Of  Sun Ra" Second Edition. I like the packaging and it should hold up well over time. The set was released by Transparency Records, a small boutique label that has put out quite a number of rare Sun Ra recordings, mostly live audience recordings and other rare gems and some not so good. The residency was recorded on soundboard by the residencies organiser, Rick Steiger, and was probably doing the rounds on the Tape swapping scene for some time. The set had been remastered from the original soundboard cassettes and although is very listenable and well above Bootleg quality, it certainly ain't high -fidelity. With over 26 hours of music on offer there is plenty to keep one occupied, although a lot of dedication is required.I have been sampling random discs from this set over the last several days and am finding the music here immensely listenable and enjoyable. We are getting the full gauntlet of Ra's ourve and lots and lots of excellent soloing from the Arkestra. There is far too much music for me to go into much detail about and in reality this set will only be of interest to a few hundred hardcore Ra fans but if you are into Sun Ra in a big way then this is one of the best live documents I have heard, sound quality aside. Highly Recommended, If you can find it. Rating 4.5/5.