BLACK SUN ENSEMBLE “S/T”
BLACK SUN ENSEMBLE “S/T” (Volume 2)

Their classic first album, reissued for the very first time with the tracks exactly as they were on the original 1985 issue on Pyknotic!

“It is difficult to think of a band that has ever produced psychedelic music that sounded even remotely like the original Black Sun’s” —Byron Coley

“ABSOLUTELY stunning psych LP, first released in limited edition in 1985 on Pyknotic label and reissued on CD in 2000 by Camera Obscura (instantly sold out). Stunning fuzzy guitar, Eastern tunes, chanting, some horns here and there…. absolutely spacey psychedelic music.” —Mutant Sounds

“Black Sun Ensemble offers sensual, aerial, sonic magic carpet rides laced with the steady flavor of India that will take you high above the Himalayas in your head. But this isn’t plinky, incense-burning, catatonic hammock music, nor does it smell of hippie backwash and flashbacks (thought the music can be hypnotic and psychedelic). You can see forever with the Black Sun Ensemble.” -CMJ New Music Report

“Jesus Acedo was the quixotic leader of Black Sun Ensemble who, on the basis of his enigmatic recordings, has been hailed by critics as one of the most innovative guitarists of our time. Born on Christmas Eve, 1962 in Tucson, Arizona, to Mexican immigrant parents, Acedo was one of eight children, the only one with an interest in music. After the death of his father in 1975, Acedo grieved by immersing himself in music. He spent most of his early adolescence at the Tucson public library listening to Ravi Shankar and Led Zeppelin records. At this time, Acedo bought a guitar. In high school, he began experimenting with the unique tunings of his guitar that give his music what one reviewer reverently called “peculiarly mystical, twangy, meditative, Middle Eastern rock sound”. Muze, in describing his style, said he can “spit blasts of dragon fire or conjure the exotic, iridescent mystique of peacock feathers with a single stroke.” A self-titled debut album was released by Tucson’s Pyknotic Records in 1985. Its extraordinary qualities led Acedo to sign a five-year contract with England’s Reckless Records, and in 1988 the label released “Black Sun Ensemble” (1988), “Lambent Flame” (1989) and “Elemental Forces” (1991). These records were a critical and commercial success. At the time, Offbeat exclaimed that BSE was “possibly, the world’s coolest band.”

“Documenting the first incarnation of the Black Sun Ensemble and the only album with the group as a trio, the music hovers like buzzards in the desert over the dehydrated body of psychedelic rock, encircling their prey, waiting to feed on the corpse and draw new strength. A resulting mergence of melodic acoustic/Latin folk, Middle Eastern, raga, acid rock, and woolly feedback is given propulsion by a steady backbeat of rock bass and drums… A solemn peace envelops the mind, like peering out at the warm glow of the morning sun, heavy lidded, after a peyote-soaked night in the sweatlodge which invoked Shamanic visions and healing revelations… Solo electric guitar pyrotechnics, Arabian scorched landscapes, iridescent ragas on just electric or acoustic guitar and hand drums, and solo acoustic guitar rapture are all spices used in a tremendously savory trans-global stew.” — Chris Scofield, fakeJazz website

A second BSE volume will come out in 2023 with alternate versions of these tracks, which for the most part comprised the CD release of this album when that format/edition materialized in 2000.

•Comes with a 8-page booklet, with notes by Byron Coley, BSE bassist Mike Glidewell, Rich Hopkins (songwriter, Sidewinder, and founder of San Jacinto Records), and a reproduction of a poetry volume by BSE’s Jesus Acedo.

Track Listing:
Side A
1. Heart Of The Sky (4:33)
2. Mayan Dance (2:12)
3. Dove Of The Desert (3:47)
4. Golden Rays (4:42)
5. Emerald Eye (3:50)
6. Red Ocean (3:52)

Side B
1. Ice Breaker (2:54)
2. Blue Thunder (4:48)
3. Ruby Eyes Of China (4:48)
4. Cobracalia (3:55)
5. Mandolin Winds (3:24)
6. A Chunk Of Mandolin Love (4:00)

a link to an mp3 sampler, which has a little taste of every track on the record:
https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/T3sC0TckTn

Transparent Boris Purple vinyl version is a Lion exclusive edition
of 150x hand-numbered copies

Catalogue number: RTAI 007 / LION LP-193
UPC: 778578319311

Format: Lion exclusive edition — Transparent Boris Purple vinyl (150x hand-numbered copies)

also available:
Black vinyl version is a Return to Analog International exclusive
Format: RTAI exclusive edition — black vinyl (500x copies)

available through Lion — to stores and mail-orders only — on a pre-order basis or direct from Return to Analog International:

info@returntoanalog.com
www.returntoanalogrecords.com



The music here still sounds as gorgeous to me as it did when I first stumbled across it. The magnificent weight of Jesus’ guitar work is always a surprise. From the midst of the most gently-drawn sand waves, he rises with his scimitar gleaming black in the hot desert sun to fulfill a mission whose orders only he can hear. What more could you ask for? I mean, really?” —Byron Coley

Lion’s second volume of the Black Sun Ensemble’s recordings for their classic first album contains an alternate version of that album, including the tracks from the Camera Obscura label CD (c. the year 2000) version of that album — well, sort of.

When sifting through the masters while preparing the Lion reissue of the real, actual first Black Sun Ensemble album — as issued in 1985 on Pyknotic — it became clear that many of the original LP tracks were also on the Camera Obscura CD release, but under the wrong names. Others were present, but in versions which differed from the Pyknotic LP versions — and again, under the wrong names. So, for example, ‘Mayan Dance’ on the CD is actually the same theme as the Pyknotic LP ‘Heart of the Sky’, but not the same take. Here’s the kicker: some of the tracks on the Camera Obscura CD share a name with a track from the Pyknotic LP, but are in fact completely new recordings, with no comparable on that original LP. ‘Blue Thunder’, ‘Red Ocean,’ and ‘Mandolin Winds’ are three such compositions. This means that there are basically two quite different ‘Blue Thunder’s written by Jesus; two utterly different ‘Red Ocean’s; and two absolutely not-the-same ‘Mandolin Winds’ too.

As a result, there are two separate Lion LP releases of Black Sun Ensemble’s debut recordings: volume one (LION LP-193) with a black cover, as per the original, is just that: the original 1985 Pyknotic LP reissued for the first time. This second LP (LION LP-194), with a white cover, contains alternates and new tracks, as released on the CD reissue of BSE’s debut. We felt it was important to keep the Pyknotic LP separate, to do justice to the original vision Jesus Acedo had when he self-released that music, and (eventually) found a segment of the world very willing to embrace it. But the other variations of that music are equally excellent and important, thus this second, separate LP for those gems.

“When people ask me why it takes so long to put together a reissue, I think back to releases like this one. I always say that reissues have a life of their own. You can’t force them. They come along when they are ready. I’m glad that the totality of the Black Sun Ensemble’s debut is finally ready to be heard again, and in some semblance of order. I don’t really know any other LP quite like it.” — the Lion

•Comes with an 8-page booklet, with notes by Byron Coley, BSE bassist Mike Glidewell, Rich Hopkins (songwriter, Sidewinder, and founder of San Jacinto Records), and a reproduction of a poetry volume by BSE’s Jesus Acedo.

•Lion exclusive edition — 150x hand-numbered copies on Transparent Seagrass Blue vinyl

Track Listing:
Side A
1. Mayan Dance CD = Heart of the Sky vinyl long or alt 4:53
2 . Cobracalia CDR = Mayan Dance vinyl – alt 2:52
3. Dove Of The Desert CD = new track 4:38
4. Ice Breaker (Golden Rays vinyl-alt) 4:52
5. Emerald Eye (Dove vinyl) 3:53
6. Red Ocean CD = new track 2:54

Side B
1. Blue Thunder 3:39
2. Golden Rays CD = Blue Thunder vinyl alt 5:12
3. Heart Of The Sky = Ruby Eyes vinyl alt 5:05
4. Ruby Eyes Of China CD = Mandolin Winds LP long alt 4:21
5. Mandolin Winds 4:22
6. A Chunk Of Mandolin Love CD = new track 4:26

a link to an mp3 sampler, which has a little taste of every track on the record: https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/I5qjwbTwku

_______________________________________

available exclusively from Lion:
Catalogue number: RTAI 008 / LION LP-194
UPC: 778578319410

Transparent Seagrass Blue vinyl version is a Lion exclusive edition of 150x hand-numbered copies

_____


also available 
Catalogue number: RTAI 008 / LION LP-194
UPC: tbd
Format:
RTAI exclusive edition — black vinyl (500x copies)
Black vinyl version is a Return to Analog International exclusive

available through Lion on a pre-order only basis or direct from Return to Analog International:
info@returntoanalog.com
www.returntoanalogrecords.com