photos by Ryan Muir

N.A.S.A. returned to Le Poisson Rouge in NYC for the 2nd time in just a few months. The first show was in January to celebrate the release of their album The Spirit of Apollo (out now). This show (3/12) was a stop on a larger tour that is on its way to Austin for SXSW. Both NYC shows featured deejays Squeak E. Clean and Zegon (collectively known as N.A.S.A.) dressed in their orange spacesuits and surrounded by scantily-clad, painted-green women, aliens and drunken, dancing fans (on the floor and on the stage).

N.A.S.A. rose to popularity pretty quickly due to an enormous amount of very talented and famous special guests appearing on their debut album. The list includes Karen O, Tom Waits, M.I.A., RZA, Kanye West, Chuck D, David Byrne, Seu Jorge, Santigold, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Kool Keith. You'd think then that MAYBE a NYC show by the group might include one of them. That is true, though it was one you probably never heard of. Ras Congo sings on the song "Money" on the album, and he did live at this show. Squeak E. Clean's mom was there too.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "N.A.S.A. & girls painted green @ le Poisson Rouge, NYC - pics"

N.A.S.A., and their worldwide debut The Spirit of Apllo, 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.

While N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and contains a number of superstar artists from both coasts of the U.S., 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 Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon) have done.

Unexpected collaborations abound on the seventeen track release. Tom Waits growls over Kool Keith, Karen O taunts while Ol' Dirty Bastard gives shoutouts 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.... [RCRD LBL]

Other N.A.S.A. collbaroators included Lykke Li, Santogold and Kanye West. Tickets are on sale for a March 12th show at (Le) Poisson Rouge in NYC. The date is part of a larger tour. Watch the David Byrne/Chuck D/Ras Congo/Seu Jorge/Z-Trip "Money" video, and see all dates, below...

Continue reading "N.A.S.A. - 2009 Tour Dates (LPR), David Byrne/Chuck D video"