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Chillax!
Following the release of 1968 (Drag City Records), PAJO has taken a break to focus on his collaborations with DEAD CHILD. Order the last PAJO CD from Amazon.
PAJO is currently preparing for a USA tour in April 2008 with DEAD CHILD. Check out the official band site www.deadchild.net for confirmed gig listings.
Work has just begun on the next PAJO record which will surely contain the many musical surprises we've come to expect. [David: "that doesn't make sense!"]
1968
(Drag City Records, August 22, 2006)
To conjure an album that at once bears the mark of an enigmatic and noir-like vision, while resting upon delicate and almost pastoral musical lines, is no simple task. Coming forward with an inspired new collection of songs, David Pajo has bridged that gap with his latest, 1968. Very David Lynch-ian in design, 1968 is a record that resonates almost a new Americana, with a dark but familiar undercurrent that is both warming and grim. As has become the norm for the veteran PAJO (former member of Slint, Tortoise, and contributor to Stereolab, Bonnie Prince Billy, and many more), his new endeavor is wholly enchanting.
This is David Pajo's second sojourn into the being that is PAJO, a step away from his previous solo-works as Papa M, Ariel M, and M. 1968 finds PAJO traversing further into acute songwriting territory, highlighted by the juxtaposition of his notably elegant musical phrasing with his often brutal lyrical themes. "Cyclone Eyes" flows with a subtle airiness that mischievously plays with a story of murder and disintegration, taking from varying Gorguts lyrics. Or listen to the soaring guitar lines of "We Get Along, Mostly," that unfold like a lost George Harrison opus. Track 4, "Prescription Blues," eerily waltzes across imagery that beckons Hafiz poetics. PAJO also pays homage to country royalty on "Let It Be Me."
1968 is an album of many subtle turns, that reveals itself in veiled but provocative ways. These are songs for the clandestine set.
What They Say About PAJO
Uncut: "An engagingly direct, deliberately pretty collection of vocal originals played on acoustic guitar and embellished with synth and neatly restrained electronic percussion... Lone auteur, team player, jack of all trades- and master of a few, as well."
Mojo: "Pajo is undoubtedly his definitive statement- not just as a guitarist, but as a songwriter and vocalist."
Q: "A solo artist too, his various guises have been getting progressively more song-based, and this is his best yet."
Jane: "Listening to the latest project of David Pajo I feel like I'm being swaddled in a soft, warm, syrup-lined blankie."
