Live From A Shark Cage

Papa M | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 26, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B00001T3BM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,019 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the next "pink moon"?, November 16, 2000

By 

Jonathan J. Casey (the twin cities) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live From A Shark Cage (Audio CD)

I was stunned and amazed to catch part of "Plastic Energy Man" in a television commercial recently. It's subtle but it's there.

My first encounter with Papa M was at a Stereolab show in December 1999...never heard of 'em, wasn't paying attention...until this song that had been going on and on caught my attention. I went in to get a closer look and stood transfixed for the remainder of their set. What I'd heard was "I Am Not Lonely With Cricket" which is a fifteen minute minimalist masterpiece (it takes up the entirety of the third side of the LP). I bought this record at the show and listened to it that night in a drunken haze, and have loved it ever since.

This is wonderful, mostly instrumental indie-rock in the vein of Tortoise and Rachel's, deserving of a close listen but not bad as a backdrop to conversation, either. Never before has the electric guitar been treated so carefully and gently, as can be heard in the opening and closing "Arundel," which has a thick, metallic sound but still manages to work as a lullaby. Various electronic sounds weave in and out of the different guitar textures, not to mention the vocals of "Drunken Spree" and some answering machine messages, among other things.

Beautiful and original sounds abound throughout, proving there is still life to guitar music. No- it isn't rock'n'roll- but it's much more organic than the digital-domain ambient music that's so popular with the kids these days...anyway, listen and enjoy...there's a lot to like here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars M M Good., February 14, 2000

By 

"santoslhalper" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live From A Shark Cage (Audio CD)

Papa M is the latest musical project of the brilliant David Pajo (ex- of Tortoise, Slint, The For Carnation etc.)-- his last project was called Aerial M, which also recorded an incredible album. If non-pretentious, non-avant garde guitar soundscapes are your thing, definitely check out "Live from a Shark Cage." I would most certainly recommend this record to Mogwai fans as well-- Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite counts Pajo among his heroes. As for the next incarnation of the M project, I vote for Auntie M.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blissful Journey, January 30, 2000

By 

chris landry (denton, tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live From A Shark Cage (Audio CD)

David Pajo has done it again. Recalls his finer moments with Tortoise and various Palace incarnations while establishing his own identity. Instruments hum and pulse like a river beneath a frozen sheet of ice. Unlike Tortoise, which sometimes seems to get a bit lost before they reach their destination, these songs amble along yet always have a thread to keep stragglers from getting lost. The mellifluous sounds here should please any fan of Tortoise, Can or Faust. The lonely, spacious sounds here are what you SHOULD listen to whilst driving on a lonely stretch of road during a gentle rainstorm when the entire world is gray and appears through your windshield to be melting away, leaving just you and the music. Or it might be the music you possibly COULD hear while gliding through the clouds over the African savannah; the music trickling down from heaven, if such a place exists. A gentle, blissful journey. If you need further proof, listen to tracks two through four.