Mission of Burma, as promised.

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Desperate Modernists: Mission of Burma, Richard Powers. This is what I promised I would write, on Mission of Burma and suchforth. It transformed, somehow, into a discussion of philosophic courage in this era, but touches on questions of nostalgia in passing, cites more goddamn benjamin, plays some word games, and generally tries to talk around the actual content. Does it tell a story? Not in the traditional sense. But does it mean something? Depends. Comments, barbs, complaints about self-promotion, hapless cries of "what the fuck, you pretentious windbag" all welcome.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I caught myself before I digressed into the x-files, but if you catch where I would have, you get ten bonus cool points.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And put us back in the NYLPM top Ten.

― JM, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

sterl do you really think that mob predicted/predated the yoof? (and shouldn't we say la monte young predicted the drone? or some nameless [because forgotten] indian classical musician from a thousand years ago?)

i hear mob much more readily in, say, dischord bands, etc.

― jess, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yoof tunings, at least. They only hit their stride with their basic tuning set around Sister, and perfected it on DN.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

oh now yr just baiting mark.

― jess, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

good essay by the way. i'll have to give a more thorough reading tonite, as i read it at 7 am this morning. (boo hiss.)

― jess, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The bands and genres they predated -- Drone, IDM, Sonic Youth -- took fragments of their loop and rendered them mobious strips -- self contained worlds.

Huh?

Into this world, each chord change, vocal harmony, guitar solo, comes as an act of deliberation -- a sea of connections transformed but never fully known, because nobody can ever really control feedback, just like you can't ever really know a woman, or redirect a river.

The Army Corps of Engineers may take umbrage at that last bit.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Just to be pedantic: the final song MoB did at their final show (in 1983) was "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate," and Pete Prescott screamed like a man being torn apart by animals.

― Douglas, Wednesday, 23 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Redirected rivers never quite work out, in the medium run. Especially not ones redirected by the army.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anyway, mr. stencil, given the pseudonym I'd think you'd have more to say over the Pynchon stuff in the article.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ACADEMY FIGHT SONG now playing! Freaky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

― Kodanshi, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anyway, mr. stencil, given the pseudonym I'd think you'd have more to say over the Pynchon stuff in the article.

Naw, not really.

Seriously though, I enjoyed the article, but some of the, um, more- seemingly-rushed sentences had me scratching my head. Of course everything in their songs are deliberate: that's what makes them songs.

And since I'm sitting only about a half-mile from the Chicago River, which hasn't followed its natural course since the early half of the 20th Century, I thought that one sentence was kinda funny.

― hstencil, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.