N.A.S.A. - Spirit of Apollo

[Josh]

The latest joint from ANTI- Records is an ambitious one-- a sprawling, monstrous hip-hop album with heavy doses of Brazilian funk and spacey jazz.

And just wait until you get a load of the guest list. Features vocalists include Tom Waits (!!), David Byrne, Kanye West, M.I.A., Santogold, Karen O., KRS-One, George Clinton, and members of Jurassic 5 and the Wu Tang Clan. And that's just for starters.

And it's a gloriously messy, spirited affair, with songs full of humor, political indignation, biblical allusions, bawdiness and profundity. But of course, the real treat here is hearing Tom Waits growl over a Kool Keith beat on a creepy, menacing groover called "Spacious Thoughts." Amazing stuff.

[Ian]

That guest list has me sold.  I'll check it out.

edit: A couple tracks in, loving it so far

edit2: Yeah, that Tom Waits verse is best part of the album, although I love Kanye's track too

[Aaron]

Is it Kanye actually being good or Kanye being his usual ass self?

[Ian]

They go hand in hand my friend.

[Aaron]

They go hand in hand my friend.

Well, he's good at being an ass but he doesn't really make good music.  He's an excellent producer but his solo albums are mediocre at best. I would like to punch him in the face a few times and tell him "get a clue"

[Josh]

Kanye isn't a great MC, so he has to rely on either his personality or his production skills to win the day. He doesn't produce here, but, thankfully, his raps are funny, even self-deprecating in places, and ultimately winsome. It doesn't leave as strong of an impression as, say, Tom Waits or Ghostface Killah, but it's still quite good.

[Ian]

his solo albums are mediocre at best

Gonna have to disagree with you quite strongly here.  Ignore 808s and he's easily one of the most consistently great artists of his kind this decade, imo.

edit: >_<

[Aaron]

his solo albums are mediocre at best[/quote
Gonna have to disagree with you quite strongly here.  Ignore 808s and he's easily one of the most consistently great artists of his kind this decade, imo.

Consistently great?  I think he'd have to make a great album in order to be consistently great.  "Jesus Walks" - one of the most overhyped songs of the past decade.  His mouth is bigger than his own talent.  Comparing him to others from this decade and I'd dare to say that someone like Eminem is light years ahead of Kanye when it comes to making a great rap album. Kanye's albums left no real great impression on me and I love hip-hop.

[spacebrat311]

How to you feel about Jay Z, Wanderer?

[bloop]

IMO, you lose a ton of hip-hop cred if you don't at least give Jay-Z his due.  He may be vulgar at times, but he's a very talented artist.

[Josh]

I like his American Gangster album from a couple years back. Would've been cool to have HIM on this NASA album...

[spacebrat311]

IMO, you lose a ton of hip-hop cred if you don't at least give Jay-Z his due.  He may be vulgar at times, but he's a very talented artist.

Very much agreed.

Anyways, I love Kanye, but I see him more as a great pop star than a great MC. I'm not referring here to the 808s album, I'm referring to his actual rapping, but as far as what makes him stand out as a rapper, its less his MCing ability and more his uncanny ability to tap into a reshape a zeitgeist.

[Ian]

I know Kanye's by no means a great rapper, but I still enjoy his delivery (when he doesn't try to sing, that is), and his lyrics are more accesible than most.  Obviously he's a great producer too, which goes a long way towards his albums delivering the complete package.  I know a lot of people make fun of his ego, but honestly, as an ambitious guy myself, I admire his ambition and desire to be great.  He takes it overboard, but that's far better than not taking it far enough.  My favorite rappers are those who write about persuing their dreams (Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, Drake), rather than those who just brag and bitch.  I'm usually not picky about the motivation of one's lyrics as long as they're written well, but in the rap genre's case, the lyrics are way too important to let slide.

Anyways, as long as I'm talking about rap in general, I may as well recomend the new album by P.O.S., called Never Better.  Really good stuff, I like it better than PPP and NASA.

[Josh]

My review.

So far, this is hands-down my favorite record of 2009.

[Ian]

Wow, I definitely wouldn't consider this album to be anywhere near the best of this year, but I guess I'll have to re-listen after reading your full thoughts.  Well written as always, though.

[Aaron]

If it weren't for the guest artists, this album would be a B-/B level album.  The addition of David Byrne and Chuck D on "Money" alone boost it up high.  I don't think it's the best album of the year and it has some major flaws. However, there's no denying that the album is a high A-/low A

[Josh]

What are its major flaws?

[Aaron]

What are its major flaws?

I think one can have TOO many guest artists so that's one flaw.  Also some of the beats/production didn't seem as tight as it should be.  Ok so major flaws was a misspeak but there are some flaws which cause it to not be so amazing and top album of the year contender.  I do take into consideration that the guys are just djs and not MCs.  If it's a hip-hop album, I would like to see the actual group do some of the vocal duties but beggars can't be choosers.   I gave the album an A- anyways.

[Josh]

Not sure why so many guest artists is a bad thing, especially when they flow together and the album sounds so unified. And I'm not sure that I'd call it a straight hip-hop album, either-- that's certainly the foundation, but there's a lot of Brazilian funk, too. Really, the album reminds me, more than anything, of a classic album from Funkadelic or Parliament, but, in its sweeping ambition and scope, it's a grander achievement than anything from those bands. I wouldn't call it flawless, but it's pretty close, and it's certainly a bold, fearless album with a boundless imagination, and I'm certainly not going to complain about an album that attempts too much when so many albums attempt too little.

[bloop]

I listened to it, and it is good, but I wonder since when Josh became a big hip-hop fan.  I almost suspect this is all an elaborate April Fool's joke where by that date, Josh's entire top ten list will consist of hip-hop and teen pop.   

[Josh]

Ha! 

What can I say, my tastes are constantly expanding, and I've come to appreciate a lot of music I wouldn't have cared for five, or even two years ago. My love for the NASA album is by no means a prank, and it is by no means the first or the only hip-hop album I've come to love, but it is certainly the one about which I feel most passionately right now.

Also, Jonas Brothers rulez. (Actually, I did listen to their album last week, and it's not bad. But not great, either.)

[Ian]

...Not sure what to say about that, man... you catch them on SNL?

[Josh]

Not their performance, no, though I did see the sketch they did with Alec Baldwin. Also saw them at the Grammys, and wasn't too impressed. But their album has some fun, frivolous power pop on it, and walks a surprisingly fine line between adolescence and maturity. I'm not saying it's essential listening, but I do think they have some talent.

[bloop]

In an "America's Got Talent" sort of way, yes.   

[Ian]

I think "America's Got Talent" requires for you to have some sort of skill though.

[Aaron]

I am stabbing myself in the leg as I type this but...I'd listen to Jonas Brothers before I listen to Kutless..




*bleeds out onto the floor*

[Josh]

The Jonases at least have hooks, which is more than I'd say about just about any of the faceless post-grundge rock bands out there.

[Ian]

The new Lil Wayne material has hooks.  Still the worst shit I've heard in years.

Jonas Brothers are better than grunge, but grunge is horrible.  Ranking genres of music isn't possible, except for grunge, which is just about the worst music imaginable.

... >_>'

[bloop]

This is getting totally off-topic, but I like some of what is called "grunge", even though I can't really define the genre.  Neo-grunge, however, is a total waste.

[Josh]

This is getting totally off-topic, but I like some of what is called "grunge", even though I can't really define the genre.  Neo-grunge, however, is a total waste.

Yep. I can do Nirvana. Not so much for Nickelback.

[Aaron]

The new Lil Wayne material has hooks.  Still the worst shit I've heard in years.

Jonas Brothers are better than grunge, but grunge is horrible.  Ranking genres of music isn't possible, except for grunge, which is just about the worst music imaginable.

... >_>'

I'm pretty sure Soundgarden and Alice in Chains are not horrible.  When you think you've heard the worst, you can always go back to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

[bloop]

Yep. I can do Nirvana. Not so much for Nickelback.

Indeed.  While I don't buy that they are the best band of the 90s (really, I can name a few better candidates here), Nirvana was an interesting band who is influential in a completely tragic way.

[bloop]

In the grand tradition of their reviews of Zaireeka and Evil Urgues, here is Pitchfork's way off review of the year.

[Aaron]

and they gave Lil Wayne an 8.7? WTF are they smoking?

[Josh]

That review is complete and utter bollocks. Did they even listen to the thing?

For one thing, Tom Breihan criticizes the album for being "a mess"-- which, yes, it sort of is-- but since when is that such a bad thing for an album? If this one's a mess, I'd hate to hear what he thinks of The White Album, of Sign 'O the Times, two of the greatest, most glorious messes in all of rock. Since when do we criticize an album for attempting TOO MUCH, when so many albums attempt so little?

He argues that it's hard tell which guest artist is which, but that only proves that he wasn't paying very close attention. I mean seriously, he can't tell Chuck D from Chali 2na? And is he seriously going to tell me that Tom Waits and Karen O don't make their presence known? I notice that he doesn't mention THOSE tracks at all...

And he scoffs at the album's stated purpose of "bringing people together" as if it's pie-in-the-sky idealism, but there's nothing idealistic about it; when an album includes over 40 performers from innumerable genres and 3 different continents, can't we just go ahead and admit that the album HAS, in fact, brought people together?

Rubbish.

[Ian]

Reminds me of the p4k review that was hating on Ara Batur because of the sole facts that it sounds like two songs put to together and that they put a lot of effort into making it epic.

[Aaron]

That review is complete and utter bollocks. Did they even listen to the thing?

For one thing, Tom Breihan criticizes the album for being "a mess"-- which, yes, it sort of is-- but since when is that such a bad thing for an album? If this one's a mess, I'd hate to hear what he thinks of The White Album, of Sign 'O the Times, two of the greatest, most glorious messes in all of rock. Since when do we criticize an album for attempting TOO MUCH, when so many albums attempt so little?

He argues that it's hard tell which guest artist is which, but that only proves that he wasn't paying very close attention. I mean seriously, he can't tell Chuck D from Chali 2na? And is he seriously going to tell me that Tom Waits and Karen O don't make their presence known? I notice that he doesn't mention THOSE tracks at all...

And he scoffs at the album's stated purpose of "bringing people together" as if it's pie-in-the-sky idealism, but there's nothing idealistic about it; when an album includes over 40 performers from innumerable genres and 3 different continents, can't we just go ahead and admit that the album HAS, in fact, brought people together?

Rubbish.

It seems like he has no clue about hip-hop.  Chuck D and Chali are SO FREAKING DIFFERENT.

[Josh]

Yeah, I just put the album in to listen to both of those guys; that anyone could ever confuse them is simply absurd. The p4k critic obviously didn't listen too closely.

[Aaron]

Chali's voice is so deep and unique.  Chuck D is nowhere close.