Wilhe;m Kempff

A clutch of rare tracks, B-sides and a previously unreleased song from David Pajo aka Aerial M, Papa M or indeed sometimes just ‘M’! ·Influential guitar innovator David Pajo (Slint, Tortoise, Stereolab, Palace Music) presents this collection of rare, hard to find and out of print singles. The very first M 7” single is here (‘Safeless’ / ‘Napolean’), so is the first M 7” split single side (‘Vol de Nuit’). ·The Aerial M CD Singles of ’97 and ’98 (‘M is…’ and ‘October’) are also in evidence. So is the Papa M 1999 Tour Single. An old Christmas card from 2000 is included (a sixteen minute version of The Byrds’ ‘Turn Turn Turn’), and a previously unreleased Christmas song, to boot. Plus another fifteen or so minutes of the timeless, eternal sounds of M! If you like your Americana infused with a rich cinematic quality that at times dips into electronic terrain - look no further.

Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords…