Papa M
Whatever, Mortal

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What their label says...

Dave Pajo may cut an unassuming figure, but the guy’s got lineage: a
post-hardcore Zelig as smart at picking his moment as picking his notes, Pajo’s pivotal role in crucial groups like Slint and Tortoise wrote the book on instrumental rock. Given his involvement in such high watermark outfits, perhaps it’s no surprise the many derivations of M (M, M Is The Thirteenth letter, Aerial M, Papa M) have proved more fluid and slippery, wilfully sliding between solo form and fully fleshed band. Pajo’s compositions have taken a similarly serpentine spoor, a crooked route away from his considerable legacy towards a deeper tradition.

Relocating to his native Louisville coincided with a growing fascination for country music, though Pajo’s spin was as trad as Bourbon mixed with PCP. Downhome homilies mutate into sitar-shaded fever-dreamragas (Whatever Mortal’s Sabotage), minimalist guitar slivers turn into transcendent sinewave symphonies (Live From A Shark Tank’s I Am Not Lonely With Cricket).

Where field recordings may be alive with authentically itchy insect calls, brittle amp fuzz, ansaphone messages and Simpsons transmissions also intrude on the ambience. Adding his own singing to the mix, Pajo found a voice and instrument as affecting as the many others he’s used down the years.