Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 8:41 a.m.
David Pajo achieved underground superstar status long before he ever opened his mouth to sing in public.
The Louisville, Ky., native spent the late 1980s and 1990s moving from one renowned indie-rock outfit to the next, lending his multi-instrumental talents to Slint, Palace, Tortoise, Stereolab, Royal Trux, the For Carnation and King Kong, among others.
Pajo also recorded songs of his own, haunting, spacious affairs released under the monikers M, M is the Thirteenth Letter, Aerial M and Papa M.
Apart from a cover of the Misfits' "Last Caress," included on a 1998 single, however, it wasn't until the aptly titled 2001 EP "Papa M Sings" that Pajo actually made a go of it as a vocalist.
That disc hinted at the potential of the new singer-songwriter phase of Pajo's career, but its full-length follow-up, 2001's "Whatever, Mortal," marked the quick fulfillment of that promising start.
Recorded in a sparse, lo-fi setting, the Papa M album is a wonder of modern folk music, updating traditional motifs of love and loss with contemporary ideas.
Opening track "Over Jordan," for example, begins with the startling line, "I am a whore" before settling in to tell the age-old tale of a wandering traveler headed for home.
Another cut, titled "Krusty," showcases Pajo's familiar guitar noodlings on top of a most unusual background noise: an episode of "The Simpsons" playing on a nearby television.
One of three instrumentals on the 13-song CD, the tune shows that Pajo retains the atmospheric sensibilities that helped make Tortoise so successful during his two-album stint with that Chicago band.
Mostly, though, the emphasis on "Whatever, Mortal" is on Pajo's lyrics and on his voice, a spare, melancholy instrument perfectly suited for his brand of dark, emotional storytelling.
The All Music Guide compares the disc to highly regarded folk-rock works by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen.
It's high and worthy praise for an artist who only recently broke his vocal silence after years of letting his music do his talking.
Artist: Papa M.
Title: "Whatever, Mortal."
Year of release: 2001 (Drag City Records).
Tracklisting: "Over Jordan," "Beloved Woman," "Roses in the Snow," "Sorrow Reigns," "Krusty," "The Lass of Roch Royal," "Many Splendored Thing," "Glad You're Here With Me," "Tamu," "Sabotage," "Purple Eyelid," "The Unquiet Grave," "Northwest Passage."
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