Three more additions to Sun Ra's already prolific and mysterious discography, all of which showcase certain aspects of his inspirational music. The Phono set glues together two great early Saturn releases, both of which would be later released on Impulse! with different cover art. Reissued several times already, both belong in any respectable Sun Ra collection – but the addition of When Sun Comes Out, the Transition album Jazz By Sun Ra, and a sprinkling of ‘rare tracks’ make this version a bargain, especially for the newcomer who is just starting to explore Sun Ra's ever expanding recorded galaxy. Further insight into Sun Ra's early career (and beyond) can be found on the 3CD set that makes up Singles, a carefully compiled collection of rare 45s that drift from strange space-age doo-wop and orbital cosmic blues, to out-there jazz and the occasional nod to 1960s popular culture – ‘I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman’ being one astonishing example. The Singles set shows that Sun Ra's music could work just as powerfully on a jukebox 45 as it could on a fullblown album. For Ra it was just another way of getting his musical and philosophical message across to the masses. The Inter-Media Arts concert is a late Mayan Temples-era Sun Ra recording featuring a big band Arkestra who are blowing up a storm. Along with such Ra favourites as ‘Love In Outer Space’ and the traditional ‘Space Is The Place’/‘We Travel The Spaceways’ interlude, the two sets are interspersed with Arkestra versions of jazz standards from the songbooks of Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson, together with Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston's (Spike Jones parodied) ‘Cocktails For Two’. As part of a concert that partly paid homage to Ra's jazz leader heroes, its inclusion here is an unexpected and intoxicating delight.