N.A.S.A.

Comments (0) By Ray Cummings Wednesday, Mar 4 2009

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"I'm strange enough to change the audience." This weird, gutsy boast comes courtesy of Karen O; its source is the chorus of "Strange Enough," a standout track from The Spirit of Apollo, the debut from production duo N.A.S.A., which finds the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontvixen sharing audio space with the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. If you just threw up in your mouth a little, the going gets wackier, revealing that stray line as something of a mission statement: Talking Heads' David Byrne throwing 'bows with Public Enemy's Chuck D? Kanye West holding hands with Lykke Li? RZA tearing it up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante? These collaborations, and many more besides, pile up among Apollo's stomping, storming beatscapes; crazy thing is, what looks like pre-career suicide on paper works out great on disc. Presumably, performances from folks such as Kool Keith, Nick Zinner, and M.I.A. will be represented by samples live. Hopefully, that won't lessen the sheer, unadulterated what-the-fuck N.A.S.A. principals Sam Spiegel and Ze Gonzales bring to the table. With Mel Gibson & the Pants. 21+.
Fri., March 6, 9 p.m., 2009