I wanna know who got that N.A.S.A. music [we have liftoff!]

Tons to do today so could be a slow one for blogging, but let me just remind you of the only thing you need to know this morning: N.A.S.A. has launched, and we're already a day late.

If you don't know, you should have been learning along with me, because The Spirit of Apollo is going to be one of the biggest party bangers of the year. Write that down on the off chance that you didn't know already so I can take credit later, and read on for your 30-second tutorial.

N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) is a collaboration between DJ Zegon and DJ Sam Spiegel (aka Squeak E. Clean, aka Spike Jonze's brother) rooted in celebrating unity across a vast spectrum of artists. First, we heard "Gifted," featuring Kanye West, Lykke Li and Santogold (apparently now known as Santigold). Next it was "Watchadoin," which brought together M.I.A., Spank Rock, Santi, and Nick Zinner, and "Spacious Thoughts," an ethereal meeting between Tom Waits and Kool Keith. Schiff Happens was convinced after hearing David Byrne trade verses with Chuck D on "Money." Since then, we've heard even more tracks featuring The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM, Scarface, KRS-One, Fatlip, Slim Kid Tre, Method Man, and even Schiff Happens favorite Ol' Dirty Bastard. “This record is about bringing the craziest combination of people together,” says Spiegel. Well no shit, Sam - mission accomplished.

In addition to the wild collaborations in the studio, N.A.S.A. have taken their concept a step further and enlisted some of their favorite fine artists, such as Marcel Dzama and Shepard Fairey (yea, that guy) to produce 5 interchangeable album covers which will all come with the album. The beatmakers then paired their artist pals with animators to create some fantastic music videos for songs off of Apollo. Check out the different covers here.

You can pick up your copy of The Spirit of Apollo at iTunes, Amazon, and purveyors of fine music everywhere, via Anti-. For now, enjoy a little taste with these videos.

N.A.S.A. "The Spirit of Apollo" Trailer


"Money" ft. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip


"Hip Hop" ft. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre


"The People Tree" ft. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, & Z-Trip


N.A.S.A. Previously on SH:
No- No- No more work this week! [Friday Jams]
More tunes! aka Where the F are my Friday Jams?
To all my people who don't wanna go to work [Friday Jams]

No- No- No more work this week! [Friday Jams]

It's been a minute since I posted an official Friday Jams, so I'm gonna try to blow this one out and give you some stuff to bounce around to this weekend (and you will need to remain bouncing, as it is brick city miserable my teeth hurt kinda cold out there).

[T-minus one month to liftoff] I've had my eye on N.A.S.A. since before I really knew their deal, but I really started paying attention when I saw David Byrne's name next to Chuck D's and listened to 'Money.' Turns out the duo of DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean (the brother of Spike Jonze) have a shitload of most awesome friends, and when I see a list of collaborations like this one, I get excited. Apparently their agenda is to bring together as much diversity and musical collaboration as possible, and from the looks of things they've done a great job. A few tracks have leaked here and there, so grab the ones you can download (with props to Pigeons and Planes), and check out the rest of the track list for the debut album, The Spirit of Apollo, out February 27.

01. Intro
02. The People Tree (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, & Z-Trip)
03. Money feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip
04. NASA Music (feat. Method Man, E-40, & DJ Swamp)
05. Way Down (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch, & John Frusciante)
06. Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre)
07. Four Rooms, Earth View
08. Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, & Fatlip)
09. 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., Santogold & 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, DJ AM, & Scarface)
17. N.A.S.A. Anthem

[I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg] Gave you the heads up on the Paul's Boutique reissue, so in honor of my fellow tribesman here's one of my favorite tracks from that album. Love all the samples (Dust Brothers on production) and brings memories of 'Egg Raid on Mojo,' played at the aforementioned concert. Unrelated to any of that is this site which will consume plenty of your precious free time if you're a Beastie aficionado like myself. Beastie Boys - Egg Man

[If it ain't broke] Everyone is jumping on tracks with Santogold, and Three Six Mafia and Project Pat have proven, at least to me, that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Santogold - Shove It (Mad Decent Remix) ft. Three 6 Mafia & Project Pat

[Don't say I never gave props to Cleveland] Kid Cudi's whole half-singing half-rapping thing threw me for a minute, but I've listened to more of his stuff and I'm excited to see what he does in '09. Could be a real big year for this dude, but like Asher says, "What do I know? I'm just a white kid." Kid Cudi - Embrace the Martian ft. Crookers

[This speech is my recital] Run D.M.C. were elected to an extremely irrelevant institution (hey, I can only be nice to Cleveland once in a given post), so I give to you perhaps my all-time favorite jam of theirs. Run D.M.C. - It's Tricky 

[What kind of a grown man calls himself "Puffy?"] Finally, something I just saw (thanks to Nah Right). I was jammin to Ready to Die and Life After Death all day yesterday in celebration of Notorious Eve. DJ Mike Nice presents a mixtape celebrating Brooklyn to get you more in the mood for the Biggie biopic, which I've been excited about for a while now. It's out today, so go see it. DJ Mike Nice - Brooklyn Bullshit (Mixtape)

More Tunes! aka where the F are my Friday Jams?

Inexplicably, Saturday's Friday Jams have disappeared completely from the Schiff Happens radar. Please, someone, anyone, whoever you are out there - if this is your way of paying me back for posting unlicensed content, a simple "Cut that shit out" letter would have sufficed. Anyway, with my entire awesome post gone, here's the track list - you're on your own for download links this week I guess.

Ball Greezy - I'm the shit
Jay-Z - Brooklyn Go Hard ft. Santogold
Justin Timberlake - If I ft. T.I.
Eminem - Number One
Charles Hamilton - C Food
Asher Roth - Roth Boys (I'm pretty sure I can still embed the video, so see below)
N.A.S.A. - Money ft. David Byrne and Chuck D (also gonna repost this video)
Ghostface Killah - Ghostface Xmas
Vic & B.O.B. - Hot (from Collipark Christmas)
Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis

Roth Boys video:


Money video:


And of course as a special Festivus Miracle, in keeping with the Christmas jams at the end of the list and me wanting to spread some extra cheer for initially posting this late, here's the first episode of the new season of Flight of the Conchords.

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

Update: I'm pretty sure my Slim Shady postings are responsible for the disappearance, as my post about where he's been and the leaked track has also disappeared. I still don't understand why these posts are just gone without any form of correspondence from Blogger or otherwise - if anyone out there can shed some light, please do so.

To all my people who don't wanna go to work [Friday Jams]

Ten tunes for your Friday feel-good head nod. Download, make yourself a little playlist, name it Schiff Happens: Friday Jams, get down.

Asher Roth - I Love College (because I'm pushing this Heeb on everyone right now, because he's gonna blow up in '09, because Rivers Cuomo should lighten up and because we all love college)

Kanye West ft. Mos Def - Good Night (off The Graduate Mixtape)

T.I. - Message to the Government (from the cutting room floor of Paper Trail)

DJ Bling - King of Rock Mixtape Volume 1 (it's no Girl Talk, but a fun mashup)

N.A.S.A. ft. Kanye West, Lykke Li and Santogold - Gifted (off N.A.S.A.'s new album The Spirit of Apollo)

Cornershop - Candyman (from the new LeBron Nike commercial that's oh so nice)

Jay-Z - Jockin Jay-Z remix ft. Travis Barker (if you know me, you know I'm all about rap meets rock)

Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girls

Ludacris - Press the Start Button (off the Dutch bonus to Theater of the Mind. Only Luda could make all those video game references sound so hard.)

Bob Marley - Iron Lion Zion (previously unreleased from Songs of Freedom, in case you're stuck on what to give me this holiday. Honestly, who could brighten up your Friday better than Bob?)