N.A.S.A. “The Spirit of Apollo” Review

N.A.S.A.’s new album, Spirit of Apollo, confirms for me a longstanding suspicion I have had about famous musicians: they have a secret island somewhere that they sneak off to in order to have fantastic parties and mingle far from us “regular folks.” If someone were to somehow get onto that island and record what goes on there, it might sound something like Spirit of Apollo, the recent collaboration of DJ Zegon and Squeek E. Clean, as well as a veritable who’s who of the industry’s movers and shakers. If the group’s name is any indication (N.A.S.A. is short for North America/South America) then I am guessing that the mysterious island lies somewhere in the Caribbean. Anyway friends, you and I will probably never get there. From the sound of it though it’s a hell of a place.

The first track, “The People Tree,” alone contains collaborations by David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, and DJ Z-Trip. Before you can say “holy fucking shit,” Byrne is back in the next song “Money,” rubbing shoulders with no less than Chuck D, Seu Jorge, Ras Congo, and Z-Trip. Don’t pause to consider the irony of a few of the industry’s most successful musician’s singing a chorus that “money is the root of all evil”—if you do you might miss Method Man, E-40 and DJ Swamp chiming in next to shout out to N.A.S.A. (and the Wu Tang Clan) in “N.A.S.A. Music.” Essentially it just keeps going on from there—M.I.A., Tom Waits, Santogold, RZA, George Clinton, KRS-One, and a whole host of others lend their voices to what is essentially a top-tier musician campfire singalong. It isn’t so much an album as it is a great party mix, curated by a couple of DJs who have a shared taste in old school Brazilian funk and a whole slew of real important friends.

Considering the amount of talent involved Spirit of Apollo never really has a chance to dilute or settle. If there is any weak sauce here I haven’t found it. The Tom Waits and Kool Keith collab in “Spacious Thoughts” is one of the best, if not most idiosyncratic tracks on the record. Featuring some Tropicália sampling, Keith’s rapping, and Waits’ barking; it brings a whole new meaning to the genre “World Music.” Though M.I.A.’s childlike chorus in “Whatchadoin’” gets a little grating (when she plays with the band do they become “N.A.S.A.L.” to incorporate London into the name?) the track is still one of the strongest due to some bangin’ beats, Spank Rock’s sex-a-dellic rhyming and Nick Zinner’s blazing guitar. Those of you who lost money betting on the belief that Kanye and Swedish warbler Lykke Li would never work together—console yourself with their song “Gifted,” which also features Santogold and an irresistible rhythm. One of the few tracks that doesn’t seem to have any big name partnerships, “N.A.S.A. Anthem” finishes out the record with fat beats and a whole chorus of drunken-sounding carousers in the background (could it be all of the artists on the album combined?). Just when you think it is finished the track extends all of fifteen minutes into a “hidden track” (remember those?) which sounds like a rap version of a James Bond theme song.

Not surprisingly, the album is a great one. I mean, was it even a possibility that getting all these artists together would produce anything less than fantastic? Shit, if I could get Chuck D and KRS-One to collaborate with me, I would probably sound good too. Not to play down N.A.S.A.’s achievement here though. To be fair, each song is impeccably arranged and produced, with a whole slew of dusted off Brazilian funk samples. Zegon and Clean obviously knew what they were doing, both in creating beats as well as picking who to work with. The only glaring chink in Spirit of Apollo‘s immaculate armor is an obvious impossibility of bringing the whole party to the live show. Whether this means that all the celebrities’ voices will be piped in for the live set, or just left out completely is a question worth pursuing. N.A.S.A. has a March 6th show at our very own Triple Rock Social Club so I expect to find out then. Perhaps Byrne, Kanye, Waits and the rest will all show up at the bar to do their parts. I highly doubt it, but am going to take a few minutes now to imagine how fucking awesome that would be…

Also: N.A.S.A. “Spacious Thoughts”