PAPA M
Whatever, Mortal
Drag City
· Besides balancing his duties in The For Carnation, Tortoise and Billy Corgan’s new project (Zwan), David Pajo makes the most of his talent as Papa M.
Since the dissolution of Slint, David Pajo has made the biggest waves of any of his ex-compatriots as Papa M (alternately Arial M or simply M). With Whatever, Mortal, Pajo transforms Papa M from the instrumental space-rock majesty of Live From a Shark Cage into a series of acoustic porch-front confessionals rivaling the best work of old friend Will Oldham, who fittingly appears here on bass, backing vocals and piano.
Whatever, Mortal tells the stories of wayfaring strangers, murdered candy-makers and departed lovers through Pajo’s cracked voice and pastoral lyrical sense. Like Smog, Pajo makes the most of his minimalist approach with an innate ability to stretch three chords and sparse instrumentation into infinite possibilities.
The narrator of Whatever, Mortal is one dealing with ultimate loss. Like taking a photograph into the sun, sometimes the brightest of objects create the darkest of images.
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