Music Wednesday: National Geographic Launches Record Label; N.A.S.A. Launches Album

We try not to do too much NGS navel-gazing, but this is pretty exciting: the folks at Nat Geo Music have launched a music label of the same name that will “record, release, and promote modern music from around the globe from a variety of artists and genres.”

Speaking of a variety of artists
and genres, check this new single from a super-super-mega-ridiculous-group called N.A.S.A (which stands,
obscurely, for North America South America) and features David Byrne, Chuck
D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, and Z-Trip. Tracks just get crazier from there—except,
perhaps, for the inevitable paring of excellent hipster songstresses Santogold
and M.I.A. As super-groups go, N.A.S.A. is pretty good, but mainly entertaining
for the pairings. Case and point: the track “Spacious Thoughts,” with
Tom Waits and Kool Keith. The album
drops Feb. 17. Check their myspace page for more:www.myspace.com/nasa.

Music Wednesday is Assistant Editor Ryan Bradley's weekly exploration of great global music.