Editor’s Note: The majority of this article is removed temporarily, beginning July 1, as it’s in the process of being considered for a book publication. It is available in a hard copy at Point Loma Nazarene University and will be accessible online again in the coming months.
Under a cobalt canopy of stitched-on stars, Sun Ra wanders the dunes of a great desert guided by the music of ephemeral winds. Walking in file are his loyal acolytes brandishing gifts of brass, ore, wood and skins. This procession is aimless to eyes locked in the material plane, but to those adapted to the ethereal, it is fervently propelled. This is the voyage of “Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy,” Sun Ra’s 1967 free form jazz record.
I was introduced to this auditory expedition by Ikah, a San Diego skater and regular at Shockus Skatepark in Ocean Beach. Ikah is a former DJ and vinyl enthusiast who boasts a collection of 30,000 records. “I like variety, but I keep my jazz records in the safest part of my house,” Ikah said. “Same place I keep my valuable Morrissey records, but I don’t listen to those because he’s a misogynistic piece of ****.”
*The rest of this article has been temporarily removed. See Editor’s Note.
Abbey Wicks 
Nick Hancock