Originally issued in 1968 by the small and unusual New York City ESP-Disk label, Ed Askew’s Ask the Unicorn has become a cult classic among people who collect and enjoy musical oddities. Askew accompanies himself on the tiple, a ten-stringed lute-like acoustic instrument that requires much strength and patience to play effectively, and he sings with a raw intensity that acts as an energetic catalyst to material that is emotionally charged with personal confessions. Recorded live without overdubs, the entire album has an exciting immediacy that sounds like a bizarre cross between the mannered cadences of Pearls Before Swine’s Tom Rapp (whom Askew had not heard and does not count as an influence) and the untutored horrors of true outsider artist Daniel Johnston (who surfaced decades later). “Fancy That” begins in frenzy, but the more conventional ballad “Peter and David” has a somber mood that permeates its unadorned five minutes, while the seven minute wandering of “May Blossoms Be Praised” is a transcendent trip into unusual space. The sparse solo performances are eerie (“Marigolds” uses silence for effect) and often feel as if they’re transmitting from a distant galaxy on a radio station that never comes in perfectly clear.