N.A.S.A.
The Spirit of Apollo
Anti-Records

4 stars

When the going gets tough, musicians collaborate. Or so the saying goes these days in a music industry struggling to stay fresh and relevant. Fortunately for audiences, this means unions of all kinds, as we saw years ago at the Grammys when Elton John took the stage with Eminem, and perhaps more disturbingly and recently with the Jonas Brothers playing alongside Stevie Wonder.

The trend has taken on a whole new life, though, in the days of the power producer. Mark Ronson has brought together any number of UK superstars atop . . . other UK superstars (ie: Lily Allen singing “O My God” by the Kaiser Chiefs, Amy Winehouse covering The Zutons’ “Valerie”). Then came MIA’s massive remix of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell” in “Paper Planes” and the ball hasn’t stop rolling.

Squeak E. Clean (Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon (Ze Gonzales) were far ahead of the curve when they began their N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) project five years ago. But timing couldn’t be better for their release, as the album, The Spirit of Apollo, is poised to obliterate any and all mixtapes this year.

Standards are set when David Byrne (Talking Heads) guests on the first track with Z-Trip, Gift of Gab and Chali 2na, but there is never a moment when the album lags from that point on. Up next is Chuck D (Public Enemy). Then Method Man and E-40. Then RZA and John Frusciante. And that’s just five tracks in.

Byrne’s first two songs are chock full of his classic yowl juxtaposed with the baritone of Jurassic 5’s Gift of Gab. It’s weird, but in true Talking Heads fashion, totally delicious. And it sets the tone for the rest of the album.
As the album rolls on, voices seem to appear from thin air. Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) pops up on “Strange Enough,” a song that would have been classic Wu-Tang otherwise. Yet her distorted moan is oddly fitting. Probably strangest of all is Tom Waits’ gravelly chorus alongside Kool Keith on “Spacious Thoughts.”

As shocking as so much of it is, Clean and Zegon don’t fail to deliver hits. “Gifted” is a surefire summer club hit featuring Kanye West, Santogold and Lykke Li. MIA makes an inevitable and emblematic appearance on the jungle-rock “Whachadoin?” with Spank Rock, Santogold and Nick Zinner.

With an overflowing roster, it would be easy for this album to get out of control. But Clean and Zegon play Cupid without fail. Each song is the lovechild of its artists, borrowing genes from each side to create an even better sounding result. The songs knit together seamlessly, thanks to the crisp production of the mastermind producers and their flare for reinvention.

It might sound weird to compare a hip-hop album to a quilt, but that’s exactly what The Spirit of Apollo is.

Emma Renda