David Pajo

David Pajo’s latest album as Papa M is wistful and poignant, like all his work. But it ultimately feels hopeful rather than weary, upbeat rather than defeated.

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.

The American rock band Slint began in 1986. In August of 1990, Slint recorded their second album, Spiderland, and the world would never again sound the same. Produced by Brian Paulson at River North Recorders in Chicago and released by Touch and Go Records in April of 1991, the six songs on Spiderland methodically map a shadowy new continent of sound. The music is taut, menacing, and haunting – its structure built largely on absence and restraint, on the echoing space between the notes, but punctuated by sudden thrilling blasts of unfettered fury. It is a sound that no one had heard before and that no one will ever forget. Spiderland spawned a whole new genre, frequently called Post-Rock, and came to be regarded as one of the most important…

Though they emerged alongside grunge acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Headed by principal songwriter and frontman Billy Corgan, they fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth, psychedelia, and dream pop, creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling, distorted guitars that churned beneath Corgan's angst-ridden lyrics. One of the most visible alternative rock bands of the early '90s, they achieved mainstream success over the decade with classic releases Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness before entering an uneven and often tumultuous chapter that carried them into the 2000s.