Q: What does the Sun Ra perfume Prophetika smell like? A: The Future!

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//Prophetika: Based on an ancient formula with hints of Cairo, Chicago…and Casseopia//

One day I’ll write a post justifying my view that Kicks #6 is the hands-down greatest music magazine of all time, but for now it’s worth recording that the folks behind Kicks  – namely Miriam Linna and Billy Miller – continue to, er, kick out the wildest music and related stuff via their Norton Records and Kicks Books imprints.

To coincide with the publication of the first volume of the trilogy Prophetika – which gathers together a trove of unpublished poetry and prose by the intergalactic visionary Sun Ra – Kicks Books (“The publisher, the parfumier”) has announced a fragrance of the same name which draws on an ancient formula “invoking a mirage of memories and mysteries and inciting a call to action”. Apparently there are hints of Cairo, Chicago…and Casseopia.

The perfume comes in a deluxe 0.5 oz Italian glass bottle in a presentation box and is just $13 – buy your’s here.

FB friend Joss Hutton nailed it with his response to the question as to what Prophetika smells like: “The Future”. Of course.

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There’s a shindig to launch the book and niff at NYC’s St Mark’s Church next Friday. Details here.

Visit Kicks Books here and Norton Records here.

Sun Ra in performance with his Arkestra and in interview in Helsinki 1971:

Twisting with Martians and getting down with the Chicken Astronaut: Herb Lester goes way Out There

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Out There from Herb Lester Associates marks a departure from terra firma for my favourite map-makers: they’re anticipating the wave of space tourism of the future with this guide to three Grand Tours of the Solar System.

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Complete with speculative observations from such sci-fi greats as Arthur C. Clarke, HG Wells and Olaf Stapledon (author of the 1930 book The Last And First Men, about the flight of mankind to Venus), Out There voyages from the Tar Pits Of Titan and the Fountains of Enceladus to the “giant space sponge” moon, Hyperion.

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The text is by Matthew De Abatua with design and illustrations by Paul Rogers.

Out There’s publication has been accompanied by Trunk Records’ release of a companion space-themed download album compiled by Nick from the much missed west London record store Intoxica!.

Continue reading Twisting with Martians and getting down with the Chicken Astronaut: Herb Lester goes way Out There