N.A.S.A. – Spirit of Apollo
Before:
Lately I’ve been really digging me some Santogold (or i guess Santigold), and since she was involved in the N(orth) A(merica) S(outh) A(merica) album Spirit of Apollo that was enough for me to check it out. And then I read this P-fork review (1.6). Ouch. My guess (and bear in mind that I haven’t listened to it yet), is that its decent at the very least, based on the 62 its received on Metacritic.
After:
N.A.S.A.’s Spirit of Apollo is the work of Squeek E. Clean and DJ Zegon and is basically the same kind of album that Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) were putting out, say, 5 years ago. It’s a “let’s call everyone we know” or, in this case, “let’s call everyone my brother (Spike Jonze is E. Clean’s brother) knows and put together an album”.
To give you an idea… a partial guestlist:
David Byrne, Tom Waits, M.I.A., Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Nick Zinner, RZA, the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Kool Keith, CSS’ Lovefoxxx, Spank Rock, John Frusciante, Fatlip and Slim Kid Tre from the Pharcyde, E-40, Gift of Gab, Chali 2na, KRS-One, George Clinton, Seu Jorge, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, the Cardigans’ Nina Persson, Amanda Blank, Z-Trip, and DJ Qbert.
And, given that the CD isn’t 35 tracks long and that this (above) is a partial list, there was necessarily going to be some overlap, a lot of overlap. So, if you were really hoping you’d get to hear Seu Jorge’s guitar over some beats, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The album is mashes together Jorge w/ DJ Z-Trip and Chuck D (Public Enemy), Karen O and the late ODB, and most famously Tom Waits and Kool Keith… as you can imagine the results are mixed… very mixed….
At its worst, the album is a little bit of a train wreck (as described in the Pitchfork review) that sounds like the Girl Talk album, with songs no one has ever heard, all played at the same time. At its best, the verses from RZA (”Way Down”) and Method Man (”NASA Music”) make me want to go download some old Wu-Tang, and I love the chorus on “Money” (Money, money-money-money/money is the root of all evil)… but those moments are too few, and too far between.
Is it a 1.6? There are probably a few too many high points on the album for it to be that low, but its definitely not a masterpiece. But, when you consider how much talent is on the album its certainly seems like a little bit of a waste…
[mp3] N.A.S.A. – Spacious Thoughts [ft. Tom Waits & Kool Keith]
[mp3] N.A.S.A. – Gifted [ft. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li]
See this post (and others) here.
Tracklist (via pitchfork):
01 Intro
02 The People Tree [ft. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab & Z-Trip]
03 Money [ft. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip]
04 NASA Music [ft. Method Man, E-40 & DJ Swamp]
05 Way Down [ft. RZA, Barbie Hatch & John Frusciante]
06 Hip Hop [ft. KRS-One, Fatlip & Slim Kid Tre]
07 Four Rooms, Earth View
08 Strange Enough [ft. Karen O, Ol' Dirty Bastard & Fatlip]
09 Spacious Thoughts [ft. Tom Waits & Kool Keith]
10 Gifted [ft. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li]
11 A Volta [ft. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx]
12 There’s a Party [ft. George Clinton & Chali 2na]
13 Whachadoin? [ft. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold & Nick Zinner]
14 O Pato [ft. Kool Kojak & DJ Bãboa]
15 Samba Soul [ft. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert]
16 The Mayor [ft. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM & Scarface]
17 N.A.S.A. Anthem
Tags: album
