A Slight Delay

It certainly sounds like a great idea: bring together two DJ’s, one from North America and one from South America, along with about forty guests. Simmer for four years, and then unleash upon an eager public. In practice… well, that’s something else again. The Spirit of Apollo sounds, and feels, like a frustrating relic of what might have been, but wasn’t quite.

For the most part, the results smolder, but never fully come alight. It’s not for lack of talent. Producers/DJ’s Squeak E. Clean and Zegon are competent, and on those occasions that things click, it’s because of collaborations that work precisely because they’re counterintuitive; if putting David Byrne and Seu Jorge alongside Gift of Gab and Chali 2na (as on “The People Tree” and “Money”) is cool, pairing Tom Waits with Kool Keith on “Spacious Thoughts” is downright inspired. However, some of the disc’s other combinations come off as a form of musical stunt casting, as with the ubiquitous Kanye West and Wu Tang cameos (the fact that O.D.B. appears here gives you an idea of about how long this disc has been in the works). There are some gems here, but you’ve got to pan through an awful lot of averageness to find them. (more…)