N.A.S.A. ‘Spirit of Apollo’ Ready for Lift Off?

With a list of collaborators longer than an elephant’s memory, N.A.S.A.’s first album might just be about to hit the big time….

DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean: Astronautical enthusiasts, presumably...

On February 17th 2009, N.A.S.A — comprised of supreme mixers DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean — launched arguably the most ambitious musical project of the year so far. Their album, ‘Spirit of Apollo’, features a who’s-who of rap, indie and pop collaborators — from Kanye West and KRS One through to Karen O, Tom Waits, George Clinton and M.I.A. — that would lead anyone to believe the album is set for superstardom.

Yet, at the time of writing, the album lies 10,040th in Amazon.co.uk’s music chart, and has received remarkably little exposure on the UK music scene. That might well change with the inexplicable emergence of new song ‘Gifted’ (originally released on 20th January), however, which features the aforementioned West in an interesting mix with American singer Santagold and Swedish indie talent Lyyke Li. If it can get some mainstream exposure, the song has all the hallmarks of a hit.