Mission of Burma
Encyclopedia
Mission of Burma is an American
post-punk
band formed in Boston
, Massachusetts
in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller
(guitar
), Clint Conley
(bass
), Peter Prescott (drums
) and Martin Swope
(tape manipulator/sound engineer). Miller, Conley and Prescott share singing and songwriting duties.
In early years the band's recordings were all released on the small Boston-based record label Ace of Hearts
. Despite initial success, Mission of Burma disbanded in 1983 due to Miller's development of tinnitus
caused by the volume of the band's live performances. The band released only one album in its original lineup, Vs.. Mission of Burma reformed in 2002, with Bob Weston
replacing Swope, and has since recorded three more albums, ONoffON
, The Obliterati
, and The Sound The Speed The Light
.
. The band included Roger Miller
, who had moved to Boston from Ann Arbor, Michigan
, and Clint Conley
, who came from Darien, Connecticut
. When Moving Parts broke up amicably in December 1978, Miller and Conley began practicing. Auditioning new drummers was accomplished, as Michael Azzerad puts it, "by playing 'out' music, such as Sun Ra
and James Brown
, until the applicant left." They eventually recruited ex-Molls drummer Peter Prescott, who had admired the music of Moving Parts.
They took their name from a "Mission
of Burma" plaque Conley saw on a New York City
diplomat
ic building; he thought the phrase had a "sort of murky and disturbing" quality. Mission of Burma made their debut on April 1, 1979 as a trio, performing at The Modern Theater. Later that month Miller wrote a song, "Nu Disco", that he felt would be improved by a tape loop
. Miller then contacted Martin Swope
, with whom he had earlier written some John Cage
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
-inspired pieces for piano and tape. Swope was immediately enlisted as the group's live audio engineer and occasional tape-effects artist. His latter role grew gradually, until by 1981 he was adding tape work to most of the group's songs, and was regarded as an integral part of the group, appearing in group photographs and receiving equal credit on recordings.
From the start, Mission of Burma received support from local music magazine Boston Rock, which printed a lengthy interview with the band before they released their first record, and Boston college radio station WMBR
. The station played Conley's "Peking Spring" repeatedly, and it became the station's most-played song of 1979. Mission of Burma wanted to release the song as a single, but by the time they had found a label, they felt the song had run its course.
. Their debut recording was a single of Conley's "Academy Fight Song" backed with Miller's "Max Ernst
" (titled after the dada
artist). Rick Harte's layered production was far more refined than the band's ragged live performances, and the band initially objected to the single. However, the first pressing of the single sold out quickly, and the band thereafter trusted Harte's judgement.
Their debut release, the EP
Signals, Calls, and Marches, was released in 1981. By the end of that year, the EP had sold out its initial pressing of 10,000
copies.
In 1982, Mission of Burma released their only full-length studio record Vs.. The album has since seen wide praise; one review notes "very few American bands from the 1980s released an album as ambitious or as powerful as Vs., and it still sounds like a classic." "New Nails" seems to set the stage for Sonic Youth
, with jagged guitar and shouted lyrics like "The Roman Empire
never died / Just changed it to the Catholic Church
;" Roger Miller has stated that line "derives" from Philip K. Dick
's VALIS
.
, attributed in large part to their notoriously loud live performances—during their farewell tour, Miller took to augmenting his usual small foam earplugs with rifle-range earphones onstage. A live compilation, The Horrible Truth About Burma
, was assembled of recordings from the farewell tour and released on Ace of Hearts in 1985.
Miller and Swope then turned their attention to their side project, the quieter Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic
(cofounded with their old friend Erik Lindgren
, who had played with Miller and Conley in Moving Parts
), which they both left in the '90s, Miller to produce several solo efforts and film scores, and Swope to semi-reclusion in Hawaii. Prescott remained active in the Boston music scene, forming Volcano Suns
and later Kustomized
and The Peer Group. Other than producing Yo La Tengo
's debut record, Conley dropped out of music (working as a producer for Boston television station WCVB
's newsmagazine
Chronicle); in 2001 he returned with Consonant
.
(and formerly Prescott's Volcano Suns bandmate) replacing Swope at the mixing board and tape manipulation. In an interview Miller relates that "when we approached Bob Weston to fill Martin's position, we told him he could use current digital technology
which accomplishes Martin's antics in an easier fashion. However, Bob opted for maintaining the original integrity, and uses a tape deck." Weston began using a digital looping box from Electro-Harmonix in 2007 during live performances, but still uses actual tape loops in the studio. Weston regularly joins the band onstage during encores, playing bass while Conley plays second guitar.
A new album, ONoffON
, was produced in 2004 by Bob Weston in conjunction with Rick Harte and the band, and released on Matador Records
on May 4. The album finished 90th in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
critic's poll. They also released Snapshot
, a live recording of the reunited lineup, through online digital channels.
In September 2005, the band began recording their third studio album, tentatively titled (among other names) Aluminum Washcloth. Production duties this time were again handled by Bob Weston. Rechristened The Obliterati
, the new album was released on Matador
on May 23, 2006 and was named as the 33rd best record of 2006 by Pitchfork Media
and placed 50th in the Pazz & Jop
poll.
On March 18, 2008, Matador Records re-released remastered versions of Signals, Calls, and Marches, Vs., and The Horrible Truth About Burma.
In a September 2008 interview with L.A. RECORD
, Prescott explained that the sheer physical exertion involved in performing Mission of Burma songs meant that the band could only play together for a "couple more years at most."
In March 2009 the band recorded 14 tracks for their fourth studio album entitled The Sound The Speed The Light
, released October 6, 2009. Titles recorded include "1, 2, 3, Partyy!," "Possession," "Blunder," "Forget Yourself", "After the Rain," "One Day We Will Live There," "Good Cheer," "Slow Faucet," "Comes Undone, "SSL 83" (previously titled "The Sound, The Speed, The Light"), "Feed," and "So Fuck It". On August 18, Matador released a pre-album 7″ containing two non-LP tracks: “Innermost” and “Here It Comes” (previously titled "Monkey Boy").
In June 2011, Mission of Burma will begin work on their fifth as yet untitled studio album.
", and his songs have probably been most widely covered by other artists. Though Miller and Conley handled most of the singing and songwriting, Prescott contributes a few songs per record as well; he usually sings in a tuneful, drill sergeant's bellow.
stuff, but we also wanted another sound in there." Swope's tapework ranged from subtle and nearly subaural (such as the quiet shifting feedback sounds in Conley's "That's When I Reach For My Revolver"), to prominent and even jarring (such as the high-pitched two-note squeal in Miller's "Red"). Journalist Michael Azerrad
later wrote: "A lot of people never knew about Swope's contribution and were mystified by how the musicians onstage could wring such amazing phantom sounds from their instruments." Though his contribution is widely considered an integral part of Burma's sound, Swope very rarely appeared onstage, only occasionally appearing to play second guitar during encores.
Their live performances were notoriously hit-or-miss, and were usually far more rough-edged than their recordings; the Horrible Truth of their live album (The Horrible Truth About Burma
) being an in-joke about their inconsistency. Boston critic Tristam Lozaw described Mission of Burma live: "When they were good, they were very very good, but when they were bad they were horrid ... But that was the nature of the beast ... Because they took chances, you never knew whether you were going to get one of the most spectacular experiences of your life or if it was going to be a ball of incomprehensible noise." While the band's improvisational side and the unpredictable chaos of Swope's tape work contributed a little to this inconsistency, the two main factors were (as Lozaw implies) the live sound and the pacing and timing of their sets. When faced with a venue where the sound system or room acoustics weren't up to the task of conveying clarity along with the band's trademark volume, Swope always refused to compromise, and opted for volume. The band's set lists (composed by committee a few minutes before going on stage) could range from well-constructed to seemingly picked at random, and (aside from "Secrets" as a frequent opener and "All World Cowboy Romance" or a cover as an encore) there was a general reluctance to repeat any song placement or sequence that had worked in the past.
, Pearl Jam
, Superchunk
, Jawbox
, The Grifters, R.E.M.
(who regularly covered "Academy Fight Song" on their Green tour), Sonic Youth
, Drive Like Jehu
, Throwing Muses
, Yo La Tengo
, Fugazi, Pixies, Sugar, Guided by Voices
, Catherine Wheel
, Graham Coxon
, Pegboy
and Moby
- the last four of which have covered Conley's "That's When I Reach For My Revolver
". In 2009 the city of Boston declared October 4 to be "Mission of Burma Day" in honor of the band's work in a ceremony held at the MIT East Campus Courtyard.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band formed in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller
Roger Miller (rock musician)
Roger Miller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for co-founding the groups Mission of Burma and Alloy Orchestra.His main instruments are guitar and piano...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Clint Conley
Clint Conley
Clinton J. Conley is an American rock and roll musician from Boston, Massachusetts.He is probably best known as a co-founder of Mission of Burma. He played bass guitar, occasional guitar, and wrote and sang some of the group's best-known songs, such as "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" and...
(bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Peter Prescott (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) and Martin Swope
Martin Swope
Martin Swope was the tape manipulator and sound engineer for the Boston-based postpunk band Mission of Burma from 1979–1983, when they split up due to lead vocalist/guitarist Roger Miller's problem with the hearing disorder tinnitus...
(tape manipulator/sound engineer). Miller, Conley and Prescott share singing and songwriting duties.
In early years the band's recordings were all released on the small Boston-based record label Ace of Hearts
Ace of Hearts Records (Boston)
Ace of Hearts Records is a Boston-based independent label founded in 1978 by Rick Harte, who also produced all its releases. It recorded and released Boston area post-punk and garage rock bands in the early 1980s, including Mission of Burma, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Roger Miller, Neats, Lyres,...
. Despite initial success, Mission of Burma disbanded in 1983 due to Miller's development of tinnitus
Tinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
caused by the volume of the band's live performances. The band released only one album in its original lineup, Vs.. Mission of Burma reformed in 2002, with Bob Weston
Bob Weston
Bob Weston is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason Ankeny declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over the American underground rock of the post-punk era, producing and engineering dates for a seemingly endless number of...
replacing Swope, and has since recorded three more albums, ONoffON
ONoffON
ONoffON is the second album by post-punk group Mission of Burma, their first studio recording after their nineteen year hiatus.-Track listing:# "The Setup"# "Hunt Again"# "The Enthusiast"# "Falling"# "What We Really Were"# "Max Ernst's Dream"...
, The Obliterati
The Obliterati
The Obliterati is the third album by the American post-punk band Mission of Burma. In September 2005, Mission of Burma began recording their third studio album, the second since their 2002 reunion...
, and The Sound The Speed The Light
The Sound the Speed the Light
The Sound the Speed the Light is the fourth album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma.-Track listing:#"1, 2, 3, Partyy!" - 2:46#"Possession" – 4:27#"Blunder" – 3:39...
.
Formation and early history
Mission of Burma's history began with a short-lived Boston rock group called Moving PartsMoving Parts
The Moving Parts was a late 1970s Boston-based rock music band. Though short-lived and little noticed during their career, the band's members went on to form parts of more influential bands Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Mission of Burma....
. The band included Roger Miller
Roger Miller (rock musician)
Roger Miller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for co-founding the groups Mission of Burma and Alloy Orchestra.His main instruments are guitar and piano...
, who had moved to Boston from Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, and Clint Conley
Clint Conley
Clinton J. Conley is an American rock and roll musician from Boston, Massachusetts.He is probably best known as a co-founder of Mission of Burma. He played bass guitar, occasional guitar, and wrote and sang some of the group's best-known songs, such as "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" and...
, who came from Darien, Connecticut
Darien, Connecticut
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut's "Gold Coast", the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census. Darien was listed at #9 at CNN Money's list of "top-earning towns" in the United States as of 2011...
. When Moving Parts broke up amicably in December 1978, Miller and Conley began practicing. Auditioning new drummers was accomplished, as Michael Azzerad puts it, "by playing 'out' music, such as Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, until the applicant left." They eventually recruited ex-Molls drummer Peter Prescott, who had admired the music of Moving Parts.
They took their name from a "Mission
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
of Burma" plaque Conley saw on a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
ic building; he thought the phrase had a "sort of murky and disturbing" quality. Mission of Burma made their debut on April 1, 1979 as a trio, performing at The Modern Theater. Later that month Miller wrote a song, "Nu Disco", that he felt would be improved by a tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
. Miller then contacted Martin Swope
Martin Swope
Martin Swope was the tape manipulator and sound engineer for the Boston-based postpunk band Mission of Burma from 1979–1983, when they split up due to lead vocalist/guitarist Roger Miller's problem with the hearing disorder tinnitus...
, with whom he had earlier written some John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
-inspired pieces for piano and tape. Swope was immediately enlisted as the group's live audio engineer and occasional tape-effects artist. His latter role grew gradually, until by 1981 he was adding tape work to most of the group's songs, and was regarded as an integral part of the group, appearing in group photographs and receiving equal credit on recordings.
From the start, Mission of Burma received support from local music magazine Boston Rock, which printed a lengthy interview with the band before they released their first record, and Boston college radio station WMBR
WMBR
WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds...
. The station played Conley's "Peking Spring" repeatedly, and it became the station's most-played song of 1979. Mission of Burma wanted to release the song as a single, but by the time they had found a label, they felt the song had run its course.
Signals and Vs.
By 1981, the band signed a record deal with the Boston-based record label Ace of HeartsAce of Hearts Records (Boston)
Ace of Hearts Records is a Boston-based independent label founded in 1978 by Rick Harte, who also produced all its releases. It recorded and released Boston area post-punk and garage rock bands in the early 1980s, including Mission of Burma, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Roger Miller, Neats, Lyres,...
. Their debut recording was a single of Conley's "Academy Fight Song" backed with Miller's "Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
" (titled after the dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
artist). Rick Harte's layered production was far more refined than the band's ragged live performances, and the band initially objected to the single. However, the first pressing of the single sold out quickly, and the band thereafter trusted Harte's judgement.
Their debut release, the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Signals, Calls, and Marches, was released in 1981. By the end of that year, the EP had sold out its initial pressing of 10,000
copies.
In 1982, Mission of Burma released their only full-length studio record Vs.. The album has since seen wide praise; one review notes "very few American bands from the 1980s released an album as ambitious or as powerful as Vs., and it still sounds like a classic." "New Nails" seems to set the stage for Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, with jagged guitar and shouted lyrics like "The Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
never died / Just changed it to the Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
;" Roger Miller has stated that line "derives" from Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
's VALIS
VALIS
VALIS is a 1981 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Dick's gnostic vision of one aspect of God....
.
Breakup and aftermath
In 1983, after the release of Vs., the group disbanded due to Miller's worsening tinnitusTinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
, attributed in large part to their notoriously loud live performances—during their farewell tour, Miller took to augmenting his usual small foam earplugs with rifle-range earphones onstage. A live compilation, The Horrible Truth About Burma
The Horrible Truth About Burma
The Horrible Truth About Burma is a posthumously-released collection of live recordings by Boston-based post-punk band Mission of Burma, recorded during their 1983 farewell tour...
, was assembled of recordings from the farewell tour and released on Ace of Hearts in 1985.
Miller and Swope then turned their attention to their side project, the quieter Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is a musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980.The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost entirely instrumental, and incorporates many different musical elements; critic Rick Anderson writes, "Very few bands have ever managed to straddle the worlds of...
(cofounded with their old friend Erik Lindgren
Erik Lindgren
Erik Lindgren is an American composer and keyboards player. He runs Arf! Arf! Records, and has led several ensembles such as The Moving Parts, The Space Negros, The Rising Storm, and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic....
, who had played with Miller and Conley in Moving Parts
Moving Parts
The Moving Parts was a late 1970s Boston-based rock music band. Though short-lived and little noticed during their career, the band's members went on to form parts of more influential bands Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Mission of Burma....
), which they both left in the '90s, Miller to produce several solo efforts and film scores, and Swope to semi-reclusion in Hawaii. Prescott remained active in the Boston music scene, forming Volcano Suns
Volcano Suns
Volcano Suns was an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott in 1984.-History:...
and later Kustomized
Kustomized
Kustomized was an American indie rock band formed by former Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns member Peter Prescott.-History:The band was formed by Prescott following the breakup of Volcano Suns in 1993. and consisted of Prescott , Bob Moses , Ed Yazijian and Kurt Davis, a.k.a...
and The Peer Group. Other than producing Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
's debut record, Conley dropped out of music (working as a producer for Boston television station WCVB
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
's newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
Chronicle); in 2001 he returned with Consonant
Consonant (band)
Consonant is an alternative rock group formed by singer/guitarist Clint Conley in 2001.In the late 1970s, Conley cofounded Mission of Burma, a pioneering Boston post punk group...
.
Reunion
In 2002, Mission of Burma reunited and began playing reunion shows with Bob Weston of ShellacShellac (band)
Shellac is an American group composed of Steve Albini , Bob Weston and Todd Trainer...
(and formerly Prescott's Volcano Suns bandmate) replacing Swope at the mixing board and tape manipulation. In an interview Miller relates that "when we approached Bob Weston to fill Martin's position, we told him he could use current digital technology
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
which accomplishes Martin's antics in an easier fashion. However, Bob opted for maintaining the original integrity, and uses a tape deck." Weston began using a digital looping box from Electro-Harmonix in 2007 during live performances, but still uses actual tape loops in the studio. Weston regularly joins the band onstage during encores, playing bass while Conley plays second guitar.
A new album, ONoffON
ONoffON
ONoffON is the second album by post-punk group Mission of Burma, their first studio recording after their nineteen year hiatus.-Track listing:# "The Setup"# "Hunt Again"# "The Enthusiast"# "Falling"# "What We Really Were"# "Max Ernst's Dream"...
, was produced in 2004 by Bob Weston in conjunction with Rick Harte and the band, and released on Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
on May 4. The album finished 90th in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critic's poll. They also released Snapshot
Snapshot (Mission of Burma album)
Snapshot is a live album by Boston-based band Mission of Burma. It was recorded in front of a small audience at Boston's Q Division Studios for broadcast on WFNX...
, a live recording of the reunited lineup, through online digital channels.
In September 2005, the band began recording their third studio album, tentatively titled (among other names) Aluminum Washcloth. Production duties this time were again handled by Bob Weston. Rechristened The Obliterati
The Obliterati
The Obliterati is the third album by the American post-punk band Mission of Burma. In September 2005, Mission of Burma began recording their third studio album, the second since their 2002 reunion...
, the new album was released on Matador
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
on May 23, 2006 and was named as the 33rd best record of 2006 by Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
and placed 50th in the Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
poll.
On March 18, 2008, Matador Records re-released remastered versions of Signals, Calls, and Marches, Vs., and The Horrible Truth About Burma.
In a September 2008 interview with L.A. RECORD
L.A. Record
L.A. Record is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In March 2008, it began publishing as a monthly magazine with a...
, Prescott explained that the sheer physical exertion involved in performing Mission of Burma songs meant that the band could only play together for a "couple more years at most."
In March 2009 the band recorded 14 tracks for their fourth studio album entitled The Sound The Speed The Light
The Sound the Speed the Light
The Sound the Speed the Light is the fourth album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma.-Track listing:#"1, 2, 3, Partyy!" - 2:46#"Possession" – 4:27#"Blunder" – 3:39...
, released October 6, 2009. Titles recorded include "1, 2, 3, Partyy!," "Possession," "Blunder," "Forget Yourself", "After the Rain," "One Day We Will Live There," "Good Cheer," "Slow Faucet," "Comes Undone, "SSL 83" (previously titled "The Sound, The Speed, The Light"), "Feed," and "So Fuck It". On August 18, Matador released a pre-album 7″ containing two non-LP tracks: “Innermost” and “Here It Comes” (previously titled "Monkey Boy").
In June 2011, Mission of Burma will begin work on their fifth as yet untitled studio album.
Musical style
Miller's songs were typically more unorthodox, both lyrically and structurally. Conley's were somewhat more conventional and even anthemic: critic Franklin Bruno described Conley as a "hook machineHook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
", and his songs have probably been most widely covered by other artists. Though Miller and Conley handled most of the singing and songwriting, Prescott contributes a few songs per record as well; he usually sings in a tuneful, drill sergeant's bellow.
Live performances
Prescott explained Swope's methods in a 1997 interview: "What Martin did ... was tape something that was going on live, manipulate it, and send it back in (via the soundboard) as a sort of new instrument. You couldn't predict exactly how it would sound, and that got to be the really fun thing I think we all liked. We wanted to play this hammer-down drony noiseNoise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
stuff, but we also wanted another sound in there." Swope's tapework ranged from subtle and nearly subaural (such as the quiet shifting feedback sounds in Conley's "That's When I Reach For My Revolver"), to prominent and even jarring (such as the high-pitched two-note squeal in Miller's "Red"). Journalist Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...
later wrote: "A lot of people never knew about Swope's contribution and were mystified by how the musicians onstage could wring such amazing phantom sounds from their instruments." Though his contribution is widely considered an integral part of Burma's sound, Swope very rarely appeared onstage, only occasionally appearing to play second guitar during encores.
Their live performances were notoriously hit-or-miss, and were usually far more rough-edged than their recordings; the Horrible Truth of their live album (The Horrible Truth About Burma
The Horrible Truth About Burma
The Horrible Truth About Burma is a posthumously-released collection of live recordings by Boston-based post-punk band Mission of Burma, recorded during their 1983 farewell tour...
) being an in-joke about their inconsistency. Boston critic Tristam Lozaw described Mission of Burma live: "When they were good, they were very very good, but when they were bad they were horrid ... But that was the nature of the beast ... Because they took chances, you never knew whether you were going to get one of the most spectacular experiences of your life or if it was going to be a ball of incomprehensible noise." While the band's improvisational side and the unpredictable chaos of Swope's tape work contributed a little to this inconsistency, the two main factors were (as Lozaw implies) the live sound and the pacing and timing of their sets. When faced with a venue where the sound system or room acoustics weren't up to the task of conveying clarity along with the band's trademark volume, Swope always refused to compromise, and opted for volume. The band's set lists (composed by committee a few minutes before going on stage) could range from well-constructed to seemingly picked at random, and (aside from "Secrets" as a frequent opener and "All World Cowboy Romance" or a cover as an encore) there was a general reluctance to repeat any song placement or sequence that had worked in the past.
Legacy
In the decades following their demise, Burma's reputation grew to nearly legendary proportions. Contemporary music critics point to their work as a pivotal turning point in North American independent music. Many bands have cited Burma as an inspiration, including NirvanaNirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
, Jawbox
Jawbox
Jawbox was an alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., U.S.. Its original members were J. Robbins , Kim Coletta and Adam Wade...
, The Grifters, R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
(who regularly covered "Academy Fight Song" on their Green tour), Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore and alternative rock band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. Formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis following the breakup of their band Pitchfork, the band's lineup also included bassist Mike Kennedy and...
, Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, Fugazi, Pixies, Sugar, Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
, Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel were a four-piece alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth, England. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours.-Biography:...
, Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, Pegboy
Pegboy
Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty , along with his brother Joe Haggerty , Larry Damore , and Steve Saylors...
and Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
- the last four of which have covered Conley's "That's When I Reach For My Revolver
That's When I Reach for My Revolver
"That's When I Reach for My Revolver" is a song by Mission of Burma that was written and sung by band member Clint Conley. It appears on their 1981 EP Signals, Calls and Marches. The Chicago punk band Pegboy covered the song on their 1994 album Earwig, shortening the title to "Revolver." It was...
". In 2009 the city of Boston declared October 4 to be "Mission of Burma Day" in honor of the band's work in a ceremony held at the MIT East Campus Courtyard.
Discography
- Signals, Calls and MarchesSignals, Calls and MarchesSignals, Calls, and Marches is the first EP by Boston-based band Mission of Burma, released in 1981 . For the CD issue, Rykodisc remastered the six original songs and added the two tracks from the band's 1980 debut 7" single, "Academy Fight Song." The EP was remastered by Matador Records in 2008...
(1981) - Vs. (1982)
- ONoffONONoffONONoffON is the second album by post-punk group Mission of Burma, their first studio recording after their nineteen year hiatus.-Track listing:# "The Setup"# "Hunt Again"# "The Enthusiast"# "Falling"# "What We Really Were"# "Max Ernst's Dream"...
(2004) - The ObliteratiThe ObliteratiThe Obliterati is the third album by the American post-punk band Mission of Burma. In September 2005, Mission of Burma began recording their third studio album, the second since their 2002 reunion...
(2006) - The Sound the Speed the LightThe Sound the Speed the LightThe Sound the Speed the Light is the fourth album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma.-Track listing:#"1, 2, 3, Partyy!" - 2:46#"Possession" – 4:27#"Blunder" – 3:39...
(2009)
External links
- www.missionofburma.com – Official Mission of Burma web page
- Mission of Burma collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive - profile at thisisoffset
- www.kevchino.com/interview/mission-of-burma/73 Kevchino Interview with Roger Miller of Mission of Burma
- Mission of Burma: Definitely Not A Photograph – video feature on the band
- September 2008 interview in L.A RECORD