Unearthed from the neolithic tar that eventually swathes all history, The Peel Sessions of Aerial M are once again among us! On August 30, Drag City — an organization largely set up to bring you the best of all available David Pajo recordings — will proudly release the only Aerial M session ever recorded for John Peel’s BBC Radio One show, as it was originally recorded on March 3rd, 1998 and broadcast on April 2nd the same year. Until then, hear a fiery full band assembly of “Vivea”, out today with a music video.

Back in the dinosaur days of the 1990s, a creature known as Aerial M walked the earth, before evolving into Papa M and PAJO and beyond and back. Even then, the music of M had a next-wave vibe, walking upright among the knuckle-draggers (and having drinks in the evening with others of its genetic detachment). It was too much to last very long, of course, but some things end up lasting forever, don’t they? The work of guitarist David Pajo stood out then as it does now, anyways; as Aerial M, Pajo re-embodied the inimical Slint larvae to evolve with a bloodless, slow-burning one-man swing. The studio versions of these three songs were played by “M” himself — appearing on his self-titled 1997 album (Aerial M) and Papa M’s Hole of Burning Alms comp — but this Peel Session offers a rare alternative view of the canonical M, with songs played by an actual Aerial M band!

Joining Pajo on this Session and fortuitously roadburned from several weeks in the European Theatre was Tim Furnish on guitar, Cassie Berman on bass (credited then as Cassie Marrett) and Tony Bailey on drums. These four, all too briefly, embodied the sound for a year or so before Papa brought a brand new bag, but OG-M’s signature minimalist long-fuse sizzle is thrillingly intact here; in fact, even more so, as the tunes are jammed out past the studio versions’ originally delineated borders. Just listen to this take on “Vivea”: when played for John Peel by this traveling group of tour-torn souls, the song gasps and shudders with exquisite life.

For fans of M’s epic version of “Turn Turn Turn”, this is more sweetmeats from that raucous old skull — but if you’ve not been down this road before, be prepared: the taste will set you slowly aflame. And then, before you know it, the band is dined and dashed — just like the band that Aerial M was, all too briefly amok on the earth that was too. So! Raise a glass to Aerial M – The Peel Sessions on August 30th, 2024! Initial pressing is on Coke bottle green clear vinyl.