Dave Pajo has been quite busy lately as a member of Zwan. To make timefor his own project, Papa M, he's taken to writing and recording invarious cities while on tour and releasing the end result as acollection of CD singles: something he refers to as an audio tourdiary. Disc one in this series is comprised of three tracks recorded inChicago, Bloomington, and Pajo's hometown of Louisville. The relaxedpickin' feel of "Flashlight Tornado" comes off with somewhat of aback-to-basics, coffeehouse approach of acoustic guitar, voice andharmonica. The beautifully re-worked "Beloved Woman" (originally from2002's Whatever, Mortal)opens with a near-violent layering of cello and violin which then dronethroughout the tune's progressions with a eerie seductiveness thatbrings gooseflesh. In keeping with the Songs of Mac EP, Pajocloses out with his arrangement of another writer's song. The ReverendGary Davis' "I Am the Light of This World" is a laid back, minor-keystrummy guitar number augmented with sitar sounds and minimal keyboardwith religious imagery that Pajo conveys very convincingly. As it'salways a pleasure to hear Papa M, hearing the stripped down, bare bonestake on these tunes is all the more special as the focus is more on thesolo artist instead of the full group effort.Read More
