Mp3 o’ the Day: N.A.S.A. Featuring Tom Waits and Kool Keith — “Spacious Thoughts”
December 19th, 2008 by Cooper Levey-Baker in Arts, Editor's Desk, Music, News
N.A.S.A. Featuring Tom Waits and Kool Keith — \”Spacious Thoughts\”
Rather than go on and on about why DJ duo N.A.S.A.’s upcoming debut disc is so hotly tipped, I can probably sum it up by just running through the guest list that pops up on The Spirit of Apollo. Take a deep breath. Heeere we go.
Apollo features: David Byrne, Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Chuck D, Method Man, E-40, DJ Swamp (Beck’s Odelay-era spinner), RZA, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), KRS-One, Fatlip, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Ol’ Dirty Bastard (from beyond the grave), Kanye West (!), Santogold, George Clinton, Spank Rock, M.I.A. (!!), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Del tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Qbert (Dr. frickin’ Octagon), Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah (!!!), Scarface and, oh yeah, the two guests featured on today’s mp3 o’ the day, Tom Waits and Kool Keith.
Yes, finally, the all-consuming question that has kept you up at night for years is finally answered: What would it sound like if Tom Waits growled over a moody hip-hop groove laced with Kool Keith’s outer-space musings? Your answer? “Spacious Thoughts,” a teaser track download up on the website of Anti-, the label that drops N.A.S.A.’s disc like a cluster bomb in February.
The album as a whole hearkens back to a favorite hip-hop era of mine, the late ’90s/early ’00s, when indie hip-hop producers such as Dan the Automator redefined what a hip-hop record could be. The Automator often teamed up with a different crew from album to album, with a different moniker for each: Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030, Handsome Boy Modeling School. The results were stunning: musically coherent LPs in a genre where, all too often, the only common denominator from track to track is the MC. The Automator deployed rappers and singers like small-part actors, projecting a bevy of guest stars on top of each disc’s signature sound. A couple Automator discs — most notably Doc Ock’s Dr. Octagonecologist and Handsome Boy’s So… How’s Your Girl? — are no less than stone-cold rap classics. (Prince Paul deserves mention in this discussion, as well, both as the Automator’s Handsome Boy collaborater and as the author of another producer-driven masterpiece from this era, A Prince Among Thieves.)
N.A.S.A.’s disc lives up to its impressive predecessors. Trust me. I don’t mean that lightly. This one is worth getting geeked about.
Bonus recommendation: The video for N.A.S.A.’s “Money,” which features David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge and Z-Trip:
December 30th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Really looking forward to this release.
I have feeling (and really you don’t have to be Mystic Meg to predict this…) that this is going to be one of the biggest releases of ‘09
December 30th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Let’s hope it finds a wide audience, but, honestly, you just never know, even with all the big-shot guests.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
HAhaha my first thoughts were damnit Cooper hacked my email and found my record order to beat me to the punch! I should have this sometime next week.
I previewed the cd and it really is not my style…. but based on the guest list I HAVE to give it a chance.
I should have this cd by next weekend. Alot of those artists can turn any track they touch into gems, but N.A.S.A. has a sound that is new to me. I had to take a chance with it though.
Cooper did a good job of not really spilling the beans on anything but the artists that were involved with the project.
I have doubts that this will get the respect that it deserves.