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Papa M | Whatever, Mortal
Former Slint man delivers yet another desolate masterpiece.
CD, Domino/PIAS
Tekst: Alex Tobin
Publicatiedatum: 19 november 2001
Ten years have passed since Slint's masterpiece 'Spiderland' saw the light of day, and David Pajo has done it all. From incendiary math-rock via serene post-rock and haunting dub experimentalism to eerie sound collages, Pajo's latest guise as Papa M finds him safe in the bosom of brittle, acoustic folk music. Not a million miles away from label cohort Will Oldham (who co-produces here), 'Whatever, Mortal' is a stunning collection of tracks for the fucked-up and the fucked-over. When, in the first line of the first song (the magnificent 'Over Jordan'), Pajo proclaims, "I am a whore," you know you're in for a slightly bumpy ride. You can feel the nights closing in on you, as claustrophobia sets in. A man is coming home to die, and Pajo evokes antiquated, almost biblical imagery. Johnny Cash would do well to record this, should he ever get around to 'American Recordings IV'. The cathartic bleating, a sound haunted by demons and ghosts, follows on 'Beloved Woman', whereas 'Roses in the Snow' starts off like a 1968-era Leonard Cohen (think 'One of Us Cannot Be Wrong'). 'Sorrow Reigns', a short lament, supplies the line of the album, when Pajo regrettably mumbles: "There was something like a wall between us/That stopped your going down on my penis." Indeed. Where else on an album can you find shades of Peter Frampton interspersed with samples of The Simpsons' Krusty the Clown ('Krusty')? When sitar is used, as on 'Sabotage', it's not for the clichéd Bollywood funk extravaganzas that seem to be oh-so-hip at the moment; this is an eerie, discordant swath of sound, cutting through your aural passageways. Your headphones mutate into the darkest of underbellies, as you find yourself in a rat-infested den in Calcutta during monsoon season. Then, suddenly, the glorious rains set in, offering us respite from the storm. 'Whatever, Mortal' is such an album, intermingling tragic songs of loss, bereavement, and pitch-black nights with a bittersweet melancholia. A must-have.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/papa-m/whatever-mortal/1013/
Meer Papa M op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/papa-m
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