A driving force in experimental indie rock and post-rock, David Pajo helped shape the sound of forward-thinking guitar music in the bands he performed with as well as in his solo career. Playing with the legendary Slint and as a sometime member of Tortoise -- as well as Royal Trux, King Kong, the For Carnation, Stereolab, and the Palace Brothers -- helped shape his distinctive use of dynamics and atmosphere. He began his solo career in 1995, with a cover of João Gilberto's "Undiu" that the David Pajo Band contributed to the Ear of the Dragon compilation, which featured tracks by Asian-American artists. Later that year he went by the name M is the Thirteenth Letter for a single on Palace Records, and simply as M for a split single with Laetitia Sadier's project Monade in 1996. Pajo switched to Aerial M for a series of singles and two albums, 1997's self-titled debut and 1999's Post Global Music. Also in 1999, Pajo began using the Papa M moniker, under which he released more singles on labels such as Sea Note, Tigerstyle, and Drag City, as well as the full-lengths Live from a Shark's Cage and 2001's Whatever, Mortal. During his stint with Zwan, Pajo continued to release Papa M singles, and when Zwan disbanded, he released the third Papa M album, Hole of Burning Alms. Like Whatever, Mortal and the Papa M Sings EP , Hole of Burning Alms showcased Pajo's vocals and his increasingly structured songwriting. For his 2005 album, he switched to Pajo as his performing name, which he stuck with for the following year's 1968. ~ Heather Phares