{"title":"Papa M","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePapa M is an American alternative rock musician born on June 25, 1968 in Louisville, Kentucky. With a unique blend of experimental and folk influences, Papa M has established himself as a respected figure in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for his captivating performances and intricate compositions, Papa M draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists including Gastr Del Sol, Tortoise, Palace Music, David Grubbs, The For Carnation, Brokeback, Shipping News, Sam Prekop, JUNE OF 44, Bill Callahan and Dirty Three.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis music transcends genres and creates a mesmerizing sonic experience that resonates with listeners. Whether it's his haunting melodies or thought-provoking lyrics,\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"live-from-a-shark-cage","title":"Live From A Shark Cage","description":"\u003cp\u003eDrag City CD issue of Papa M's long deleted 1999 album 'Live From A Shark Cage'. This release from the band with the semi-familiar name is in fact from the house of M, a group who has stymied your expectations for much of the later 90s while at the same time stimulating your desire for a certain kind of music (the terribly beautiful kind). Around the mid 90s a lone single appeared on the Palace Records label, inciting instant controversy exclusively because of its intriguing sound. Back then, the group called itself M but when the self- titled full length album appeared in 1997 the title of the group had grown to Aerial M. Two CD singles under the name Aerial M came out, followed by the album 'Post Global Music'. That band is gone now but the questions remain. And the answers won't be found on 'Live From A Shark Cage'. It's a confusing M record to the extreme. If you're the kind of person who hears voices, this record will only double your problem - there are found sounds, singing voices and instrumental voicings that will only increase the lack of peace in your troubled mind. And it's all stretched tautly across the trademark guitar sting and smoothness that we've come to expect from David Pajo.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383424487755,"sku":"375793","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/79338f18-ac04-45ff-b772-9a4690408a78_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726269717"},{"product_id":"ballads-of-harry-houdini","title":"Ballads of Harry Houdini","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Great Escape Artist is back! No, not that one – dude’s dead! We’re talking about \u003cstrong\u003ePapa M\u003c\/strong\u003e. And he’s talking ‘bout Harry Houdini – in the album title, anyway, not sure about anywhere else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo, six years since his last LP, the all-acoustic \u003cem\u003eA Broke Moon Rises\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ePapa M\u003c\/strong\u003e rolls into the shred zone, buns glazing, with his fifth full length in 25 years of \u003cstrong\u003ePapa M\u003c\/strong\u003e-itude! Six fat-assed songs – a couple ballads, yeah, but mostly real all-out groovers here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50405323637067,"sku":"2222617","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Ballads_of_Harry_Houdini_b569b82e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726575629"},{"product_id":"these-days-3","title":"These Days","description":"\u003cp\u003eMonotreme release ​M+A's second album, 'These Days'. Their playful, sophisticated dance pop is so seamlessly hooky and compelling that upon listening it's hard to imagine a world without it. It's a perfect distillation of a yearning for endless summer.LP - 180 Gram white vinyl with CD version.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Monotreme","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50491918909771,"sku":"367898","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5a45c97c-d098-4b02-a4db-607e349baf65_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727689861"},{"product_id":"highway-songs","title":"Highway Songs","description":"\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"71\"\u003e\n\u003ccolgroup\u003e\u003ccol width=\"71\"\u003e\u003c\/colgroup\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr height=\"20\"\u003e\n\u003ctd height=\"20\" width=\"71\"\u003ePapa M? Are you serious? The last time we said “Papa M,” it was 2004 and we were talking about a retrospective compilation album! There were no expectations, and none given! Sure, Papa M was attached to some of the 80s–90s greatest no-core records, especially if you consider his imaginary alter ego, one David Pajo. But that was a long time ago! So why then does Highway Songsspill into our ears with a newness, a vitality that only fresh blood can bring? Could it be because of all the blood? David Pajo’s been writing lines on the guitar since he was a bitty little kid. It sustained him through a lot of groups, like Maurice, Slint, Aerial M, Tortoise, The For Carnation, Dead Child. He’s played live too, and on records. And now that he’s grown up to be a bitty little man, what’s he gonna do, change? If you think so, you don’t know Pajo — or as he’s been known to sometimes go, Papa M. The instrumental sounds he’s made in the name of these names — on albums with names like Live From a Shark Cage and “Whatever, Mortal”— implied danger, violence and total alienation, alongside a peaceful, easy, good-willin’ and wide streak of broke-toothed black humor. So, after those classic albums followed by a long silent phase, broken only by a steady stream of sweet (and terrifying) pictures on Instagram, we’ve now got Highway Songs. Sounds pastoral. Bucolic, even. What’s become of the implication of mayhem in this title? Don’t worry. This album could be called “Wreck on the Highway Songs.” Or “Live From an Oxygen Tent.” You get it right away, when “Flatliners” bursts into full metal jackin’, igniting the Pajolian doom-rock inner magma into firey evidence. This is something new again, extra savage — like the kind of record you might record in between a suicide attempt and a severe motorcycle accident. Add in a little time for a few sessions to finish the album AFTER the bike accident, and you are literally talking about Highway Songs! With a humble combination of sources, Papa M has traditionally traced his music from aboriginal blues all the way through the rock and on into 21st century classical (wait for it), exploring moments via an audio-diary verite. With each encroaching moment of Highway Songs, it sounds to us more and more like good old Papa M, as David throws back the veil of tears from recent times to bear witness to miasmic moodclouds passing not over but THROUGH him. Music from where the mind goes when the body is broken. Reflecting time spent hooked up to machines. A good person with bad thoughts, a story told in fragments picked up off the bathroom floor. Smashed cuts. Highway Songs is the songs of a new man, but one made up of the old man with a few new metal parts inserted in key areas of the legs. There’s kind of a “Rear Window” quality to the record — watching suspiciously from a wheelchair at the comings and goings of the world around you, sorting out where the bodies are buried, making wild accusations, almost dying a\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50494586257739,"sku":"406095","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50494588846411,"sku":"406093","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/22878003-591f-4ed2-af4f-e222f4ab5ab8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727706828"},{"product_id":"a-broke-moon-rises","title":"A Broke Moon Rises","description":"\u003cp\u003eLate 2016’s \u003ci\u003eHighway Songs\u003c\/i\u003e brought Papa M back to us, after many years of silence and several harrowing dances with death for his Id-ego\/host body, David Pajo. Now, two years on down the road, we’re all here again to witness \u003ci\u003eA Broke Moon Rises\u003c\/i\u003e. The five songs of \u003ci\u003eA Broke Moon Rises\u003c\/i\u003e find David focusing his technique in unknown directions, to find out what he can do with them. When that happens, he finds himself on the very spot where Papa M music becomes alive! We call this, “the sweet spot.” As the quietly funereal march of the opening track resonates with a spare drum beat, we are completely transfixed into the open spaces around the guitars: damn, son — it’s the M-scape! David’s been engineering and mixing his records for years, so the sensation of his sound-thoughts doesn’t entirely surprise us, even in their latest, acoustic anointment. Layers of guitars curl and unfurl, falling away from the center with feathery softness. Slide figures cut through the progressions with a rusty glide. Arpeggiations flicker with light, leading into a change that’ll break on yer ear like a small revelation. Even the sound of Papa M playing in the room, leaning forward or untouching the strings, provides textural byplay in created space. \u003ci\u003eA Broke Moon Rises\u003c\/i\u003e is meditative in the most active sense, with the unquiet mind leaping from place to place in a static, spartan theater. All of which action makes hypnotic music, perfect for listening.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50497833402699,"sku":"1037834","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9c84e0bb-67d5-4354-a963-f5b0e34ed500_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727733768"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_6aad4e8a_thumbnail_4096_82f4cada-a5ed-4d1d-95fd-ac479c9a0d28.jpg?v=1726269698","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/papa-m.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}