Mission of Burma, "ONOffON"

Oh and what exactly is this being passed around? Where are we catching it in the process, since it's not being released until May?

MoB's rarities thingy - Forget - is better than a lot of proper albums of their contemporaries...I think some of those songs are being rerecorded for the new one as well.

If so, who's doing tapes?

***waiting for the two tracks from Matador records to download***

+ Weston

Apparently the vinyl version will also include a cover of the Dils' "Class War," which I'm very excited about. Burma's never done too many covers, but the ones they've done they TOTALLY DETONATE--I'm thinking of Pere Ubu's "Heart of Darkness," the Stooges' "1970" and the incredible version of Eno's "Seven Deadly Finns" I saw them do in Philadelphia.

My favorite on the new one right now is "The Setup."

They once (literally) did an atonal version of "A Hard Day's Night" that was amazing -- but they felt it was too much of a gimmick.

The two regular covers that they never recorded were "Break on Through" (with the signature riff completely transmuted) and Love's "Can't Explain." ("1970" replaced the latter in the repertoire, which replaced the former, which dates back to their start. Their version of "Break" had the same structure as their "1970" -- complete breakdown into chaos in the middle, then bring back the opening riff.) Probably loads of tape collectors have those.

They also did Cream's "N.S.U." three times in Boston in 2002; hopefully that (and the Philly "Finns") will see light on a future live album. I've told them they should consider releasing the Philly show as is.

I guess I'm interested to hear this now - high praise from trustworthy ILMers is eclipsing my cynicism a bit

OTOH, I think people will be flabbergasted at how memorable the songs on the new record are. A Burma record that has all the qualities of their old stuff plus a score of melodies and riffs that you can't get out of your head--that's something else. Roger's "Falling" is a serious candidate for the best thing they've ever done.

Today, we have a very special live session from seminal post-punk band Mission Of Burma. The Boston based group made their biggest impact in the early '80s with a number of releases, most notably an EP whichfeatured their calling card, That's When I Reach For My Revolver.

[Reminder, this show has a listen again on demand feature]

Jesus Fuck, Ben, don't play with my emotions like this!! Holy crap I hope I agree with you! damn, dog...when is the release date? (also when's the last time I was excited to buy the vinyl and CD of an album on it's release date...) crap I wish places still did midnight monday nite/tuesday morning openings....

Forthcoming Albums 2004
http://www.geocities.com/altmartinuk/2004f.html

I'd forgotten how much I love Peter Prescott's voice.

you should check out the stuff he's done with Consonant in the last couple years...it's really great (get the s/t debut first though...it's way better than the followup, but they are both worthwhile)

indeed I am! sorry ignore that post. (i'm such a big Consonant booster I fired before aiming on that one)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000008FVQ.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I dunno, don't forget Wire had 'Snakedrill' AND 'Send'

Anyway, here's the setlist, or something close to it. The sets are definitely the real thing; the encores are from memory, so might be slightly off.

Set 1
Fame and Fortune
Mica
Into the Fire
The Enthusiast
This Is Not a Photograph
Einstein's Day
Nicotine Bomb
Playland
Max Ernst
Academy Fight Song

Set 2
Dirt
The Setup
Peking Spring
Fun World
Trem Two
Fake Blood
Wounded World
That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
Forget
That's When I Reach for My Revolver
Learn How

Encore 1
Astronomy Domine
Secrets

Encore 2
The Ballad of Johnny Burma
Dead Pool

Encore 3
1970

Or something like that. Crazy fun standing right at the front of stage. I still have a lot of ringing in my right ear, but totally worth it. Thank god that my flight to the States is tomorrow, otherwise I would have been a victim of bad timing yet again.

Oh, and Roger said that he has no idea what is going on with the documentary and doesn't really care much one way or the other. Disappointing, to say the least, but at least it leaves less footage of Moby masturbating over Burma available to the public...

I hate Cheapo. They are ridiculously expensive. Still go there all the time. The one by my house is the 'metal' Cheapo.

Onoffon is one of the few albums I will buy even though I could burn a promo copy. That and Madvillian.

So does it sound a bit more like Signals then? Or Consonant?

I'll even make a distinction here between "catchy" and "tuneful." A lot of Roger's earlier stuff was tuneful but the melodies, no matter how pleasant to hear, did not for some reason stick in your head and run around there. In contrast, "Fever Moon" on the new record isn't particularly tuneful by Roger's standards, but it sticks in your head really nicely. "Falling" burns into your brain rather hypnotically.

The result is an album that asks to be played over and over again for the reason that pop albums usually do -- to re-experience all the melodies rummaging around your brain -- in addition to the standard Burma reason of wanting to get the top half of your skull removed.

Now, note that my take on the album is based on knowing the material from many live shows, and hearing the album 3 times. I do not currently have a copy to sate my appetite . . and cannot yet comment on how it stands up to repeated plays.

You are not helping.

His philosophy of production seems to be set-em-up-and-let-em-play without the detailed approach to clarity of sound (especially drum sounds) that is typically necessary to make that work with impact.

But I know he knows exactly what he is doing and it is most likely a very considered viewpoint. I find the records listless as well and I can't find the songs in there.

[I love Bob's work on the loops with Burma live]

Send>OnoffON

By a lot.

Sometimes I just want to be like, "Stop yelling at me dad!" But then

Clint Conley's songs are pretty terrible. I think "Dumb Joy" done up Mission of Burma style would have been good. What I don't need is him cooing at me saying he is preparing his heart for me w/cello or whatever in the background.

Might like it better if they got rid of 3 or 4 songs.

May 7th: Columbia, MO @ Hearnes Center FieldHouse, KCOU Spring Stage (University of Missouri, Columbia). 4:30pm

May 14th: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts (334 South Street) 9:00pm, all ages (w/ The Dresden Dolls)

May 15th: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (815 V St. N.W.) 9:30pm, all ages (w/ The Fiery Furnaces)

May 22nd: Boston, MA @ Avalon Ballroom (15 Lansdowne Street) 6:00pm, all ages (w/ The Dresdon Dolls, Sunburned Hand of the Man)

June 4th: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville Street) 9:00pm, 19+ (w/ Kinski)

June 5th: Seattle, WA @ Neumo's (925 East Pike Street) 6:00pm, 21+ (w/ Kinski)

June 6th, Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom (1332 West Burnside) 8:00pm, all ages (w/ Kinski)

June 9th, San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (1805 Geary Boulevard) 8:00pm, all ages (w/ Kinski)

June 10th, Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre (6126 Hollywood Blvd) 7:30pm, all ages (w/ Kinski)

Uh oh.

You can hardly hear her...which might be the idea.

Donnelly also sang backing vocals years back on some Roger Miller solo stuff like 'Run Water Run' off Win! Instantly!.

Also Clint Conley had some bass-strap trouble. The roadie was AWOL and he couldn't get the strap to shorten until someone suggested loudly that he ties knots into it. So I got to see him play while propping the bass up on his knee.

I have to buy the album asap.

Listened to it alot...I think it's very very good, but probably not classic. I really like some of the tape editing stuff Weston does, good job of filling in for him (esp the section on The Set Up)....Overall, does a good job of seeming like a Mission of Burma album, you almost feel like no time has elapsed....

Overall, I think Miller's songs rule the album...Connely's seem a bit weaker than some of the songs he's put on the Consonant records, and I really can't get into Nicotine Bomb yet (that's the only one that seems really out of place to me, almost country rock feeling)....I like Prescott's punk ones though, they keep the album from feeling too smooth...

Lot's of really great songs, Wounded World and The Set Up are prob now among my fav. Burma tunes....the re-dos of the old stuff are very very similar, although playland is a little crazier yet somehow not quite as cool as the orig....Hunt Again is a beautiful song....

tapes were more mellow than they used to be, making the trax from the EP sound sorta weaker. i thought the show wasn't matching up to the first reunion show i saw (but then what could!?) but then the second half of the set kicked in, trem two was godlike, the six encores were fantastic -- not having read this thread i had NO IDEA that YOA and Class War were in the works.

Also played what they said was a new song for them -- a really mellow ballad given the tape-buildup treatment.

i love it when they leave stage between the sets and the tapes keep echoing and building and just running this humming so sublow through the whole room and the vibrations are just tearing through my system.

oh yeah -- wounded world is totally the highlight of the new album, but i haven't given it a good listen on a quality system just my crappy discman. miller's stage presence after all these years is fantastic. oh! and they dedicated "fake blood" to "my ex-wife, britney"

need to keep telling myself that Versus were influenced by these guys and not the other way 'round