SUN RA - Sleeping Beauty [aka Door Of The Cosmos] (Art Yard 003; UK) "Originally released by Saturn in 1979, this is a studio recording by a large ensemble (including, unusually, electric guitar and bass). These are the first recordings of the titles included (though they were played live a few months earlier on German radio). Springtime Again is a floating, sonically open composition, with a distant sung ostinato, interestingly mixed. The door of the Cosmos, which features June Tyson, is a relaxed groove-driven piece in which electric piano, guitar and bass function as ground, over which events drift in and out, while Sleeping Beauty is a chaotic, swirly masterpiece with lots of effects added to the instruments, interestingly mixed. As an ex-LP, it's LP length."- Chris Cutler

SUN RA - On Jupiter [aka Seductive Fantasy] (Art Yard 004; UK) "A big band studio recording made a month before Sleeping Beauty and released by Saturn in 1979 consisting of three quite different pieces: On Jupiter, which is a vocalized, relaxed, swing trance piece, UFO - Sun Ra's unashamed approach to disco, layering big band events over a funky beat and chunky chants -, and Seductive Fantasy, which lurches along in classic Ra fashion, very easygoing and with a good high-definition recording quality. It's nice to hear the oboe and bassoon, often lost in live recordings, so prominent, Again, the mixing is unusually sophisticated. As an ex-LP, it's LP length."- Chris Cutler