N.A.S.A. (North America/South America), and their worldwide debut The Spirit of Apollo is set to be released on Anti- on February 17, 2009. N.A.S.A is an ongoing creative collaboration between two lifelong music aficionados, Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes. The pair will tour the US and Canada starting late next month.
While N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and contains a number of superstar artists from both coasts of the US, it is about as far from a tension-building geographical showdown as a record can get. Rather, The Spirit of Apollo was born with the righteous goal of bringing people together through music and art, and that is exactly what masterminds Squeak E, Clean and DJ Zegon have done.
Unexpected collaborations abound on the eighteen-track release. Tom Waits growls over Kool Keith, Karen O taunts while Ol’ Dirty Bastard gives shout-outs to Wu Tang and N.A.S.A. from the grave, and David Byrne, Chuck D and others expound on the evils of “Money.†In spite of the range of performers, the pairings seem organic, inspired and make perfect sense on the first listen, never coming off as ironic or impulsive.
N.A.S.A TOUR DATES
THUR 2/26 SAN DIEGO, CA Casbah
SAT 2/28 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Mezzanine (Noise Pop)
MON 3/2 PORTLAND, OR Holocene
TUE 3/3 SEATTLE, WA Nectar
FRI 3/6 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Triple Rock
SAT 3/7 CHICAGO, IL Abbey Pub
MON 3/9 TORONTO, ON El Macombo
TUE 3/10 MONTREAL, QC La Sala Rosa
WED 3/11 BOSTON, MA Harper’s Ferry
THUR 3/12 NEW YORK, NY Le Poisson Rouge (LPR)
FRI 3/13 PHILADELPHIA, PA Barbary
SAT 3/14 WASHINGTON, DC Rock N Roll Hotel