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While the self-imposed constraints limit the emotional power of songs like "Mary of the Wild Moor" and the hushed, fingerpicked "Manson Twins," it's a happy addition to Pajo's solid lo-fi repertoire.
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This record doesn't intend to blow your hair back; it wants to get under your skin, and with its twinkling arpeggios, morbidly graceful lyrics, and barely there electronics, slowly, it does.
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Q MagazineA most pleasant surprise. [Jul 2005, p.122]
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Building on his unassuming alternative icon status, this great debut (under his own name) is sure to bring him that bit nearer to the awareness of the mainstream.
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This is about as close to ambient as a singer-songwriter can get without mixing himself out altogether.
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UncutPajo is not, and will never be, a great singer.... His guitar playing, though, is as quietly inventive as ever. [Jul 2005, p.96]
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For a man who made his reputation deconstructing melody, Pajo comes across with some surprisingly winsome tunes on Pajo, drawn largely from the kind of late-'60s pastoral pop that his devotees might've dismissed derisively a decade ago.
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MojoUndoubtedly his definitive statement--not just as a guitarist, but as a songwriter and vocalist. [Jul 2005, p.96]
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FilterPajo clearly knows how to tinker without overcrowding, losing or insulting the pleasant, acoustic backbone of his songs. [#16, p.91]
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Alternative PressImmediately memorable. [Aug 2005, p.164]
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New Musical Express (NME)He continues his obsession with broken-hearted collages and interstellar folk music. [25 Jun 2005, p.64]
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Pajo employs quiet space beautifully here, amplifying his hushed couplets and fret noises by surrounding them with nothing but a vague tape hiss.
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The tinny, noisey/flangey/hurtful sound that's shellacked on in cheap 16 bit hinders some of the best material he's written to date.
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Rolling StonePajo is no milestone, but it's a modest, quiet success that will leave you wondering. [11 Aug 2005, p.72]
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The WireSome of these tracks have a stark, haunting beauty that marks them out as perfectly realised compositions in their own right. [#258, p.68]
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SpinA lovely, eerie album that plays like a digital memory of a lo-fi lullaby. [Aug 2005, p.103]
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MagnetPajo comes as close to capturing his mercurial talent and shifting identiy as we're ever likely to hear. [#68, p.106]
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The gravity and changing tides of this engaging self-titled effort help David Pajo warm up, if not transcend the post-rock tag.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 6
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Mixed: 1 out of 6
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Negative: 0 out of 6
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WayneBSep 30, 2005
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PaulNSep 16, 2005
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jyotirmayadSep 1, 2005The best ambient music of today. Instinctively sure of itself yet decidedly 'unassuming.'