Friday, November 13, 2009

The Spirit of Apollo

by N.A.S.A.

'There's a party, and and we're all invited. Not just some of us, But each and everyone.' It's not just the chorus to the George Clinton/Chali 2na collabo on this disk, it's pretty much the album's theme.

Sam Spiegel and Ze Gonzales, two dj's representing the two American continents, have assembled a very mixed bag here. They've pulled together a virtual Live Aid hip-hop album, with tons of artists contributing to their electronic, hip-hop themed endeavour. This cd is the musical equivalent of the first day at a new school, where you get paired up randomly with people that you might get along well with, or not, but have to spend some time working together.

Thus, we get tracks featuring David Byrne, Chuck D, and Z-Trip, or Spank Rock and MIA. At times, it works wonderfully, while at others, the different styles are just a little too jarring. The high point of the album for me has to be the song 'Spacious Thoughts', which features Kool Kieth and Tom Waits. It's not the best track here by any stretch, but the concept is pretty damn cool.

This album has more successes than failures, and I imagine many of the tracks here will become favourites as they appear randomly on my ipod.

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