Tag Archives: Music

Agitprop with a beat to kick off the weekend. Me likey!

Agitprop with a beat to kick off the weekend. Me likey!

N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) is a collaboration between producer Squeak E. Clean  (Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon (Ze Gonzales). Their new album “Spirit of Apollo” features the contributions of some talented musicians and visual artists that you might have heard of… 😉

Check out this track list!:

  1. Intro
  2. The People Tree (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift Of Gab & Z-Trip)
  3. Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip)
  4. N.A.S.A. Music (feat. Method Man, E-40, & DJ Swamp)
  5. Way Down (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch, & John Frusciante)
  6. Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre)
  7. Four Rooms, Earth View
  8. Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, & Fatlip)
  9. Spacious Thoughts (feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
  10. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li)
  11. A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)
  12. There’s A Party (feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)
  13. Whachadoin? (feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santo Gold, & Nick Zinner)
  14. O Pato (feat. Kool Kojak & DJ Babão)
  15. Samba Soul (feat. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert)
  16. The Mayor (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface & DJ AM)
  17. N.A.S.A. Anthem

Visual elements and animated music videos for several of The Spirit of Apollo’s tracks are starting to leak out, with artists such as Shepard Fairey (see above video), Sage Vaughn, Barry McGee, Marcel Dzama and others throwing their aesthetic hats into the mix.

You can preorder it on Amazon or from the iTunes store now. Check out Squeak E. Clean’s Blog or the group’s MySpace page for more samples and information.

Karsh Kale’s New Work Is A New Soundtrack For An Old Favorite: “Enter The Dragon”

“Bruce Lee?”

“Yeah…”, he said.

“That’s awesome.”

That’s a pretty close approximation to one of my first conversations with Karsh Kale: drummer, tabla master, producer, composer, and — at the time — my new neighbor who was introducing me to his cat. Karsh has since decamped to what I hope for his sake is a less shady building, but I still see him in the ‘hood from time to time. A few months ago, I bumped into him on the street and asked him what he was up to.

“I’m actually working on a thing for Celebrate Brooklyn — it’s a new score for Enter the Dragon and we’re going to play it along with the movie”, Karsh said.

“Bruce Lee?”, I said.

“Yeah…”

“That’s awesome.”

[Read more…]

A way for people to “Support the Troops” with something more meaningful than just a slogan.

My friend Andi sent me an email a few days ago — she is a Production Designer for MTV Networks who had just finished working on a project called “A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE”, featuring live performances by 50 Cent and Ludacris (as well as a taped performance by Kanye West).

“Basically, regardless of where you stand on the war or your political views”, she wrote, “it is important to be a part of helping to improve the lives of our vets.

I agree.

More than just a concert, this show was an event designed to promote a new “Bill of Rights for American Veterans”, or “BRAVE” for short. MTV is hosting an online petition to help returning veterans receive social services and quality health care.

Sounds like a way for people to “Support the Troops” with something more meaningful than just a slogan…although, personally, I’d also like to see if we could get Fiddy declared an honorary veteran for his many tours of duty in Queens, New York.