PAJO

David Pajo exerted considerable influence on experimental indie rock and post-rock, molding the direction of innovative guitar-based music both through his band affiliations and his own recordings. Performances alongside the legendary Slint, plus his periodic role in Tortoise and involvement with Royal Trux, King Kong, the For Carnation, Stereolab, and the Palace Brothers, refined his singular command of dynamics and atmosphere. His independent work commenced in 1995 when the David Pajo Band supplied a cover of João Gilberto’s “Undiu” to the Ear of the Dragon compilation spotlighting Asian-American artists. Later that year he issued a Palace Records single under the name M is the Thirteenth Letter and, in 1996, appeared simply as M on a split single with Laetitia Sadier’s Monade project. He next recorded as Aerial M, releasing a run of singles and the albums Aerial M in 1997 and Post Global Music in 1999. Also in 1999 he adopted the Papa M alias for further singles on Sea Note, Tigerstyle, and Drag City as well as the full-lengths Live from a Shark’s Cage and Whatever, Mortal, the latter arriving in 2001. While a member of Zwan he maintained a schedule of Papa M singles; after Zwan dissolved he issued the third Papa M album, Hole of Burning Alms. Along with Whatever, Mortal and the Papa M Sings EP, Hole of Burning Alms placed emphasis on Pajo’s vocals and his growing preference for structured songwriting. For the 2005 album he performed under the name Pajo, retaining that moniker for 1968 the following year.