In the good tradition and vein of such truly seminal artists as the Velvet Underground, The Stooges and Dead Kennedys, Mission Of Burma delivered their own flavored Post-Punk/Indie Rock and “Unsound” is their sixth and upcoming album filled with experimental explorations and paths back to the 70’s without being retro at all.
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), over the course of their brief first four-year career (1979-1983), Mission Of Burma has laid the foundation for a movement in Post-Punk Rock which remains vital today and inspired several generations. Their bracing mixture of Punk, Pop, Art Rock, and Avant-garde experimentation as they play it strident and powerful, gave them an unique flavor which remains fresh and an unmistakable trademark of the band.
When extreme stage volume exacerbated Miller’s tinnitus, the band embarked on a farewell tour and subsequently disbanded. Upon Burma’s demise, Miller embarked on a solo career (he has also recorded in various combos under the monikers Maximum Electric Piano, No Man/No Man’s Band, and most recently The Binary System), as well as with Swope in Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic. Prescott has led Volcano Suns, Kustomized, and currently plays guitar and fronts Peer Group. Conley has kept a low musical profile until recently; he produced and played on Yo La Tengo’s 1986 debut album, Ride The Tiger, and reunited with Miller in 1996 for a one- off single as Wrong Pipe. He now leads consonant, with Chris Brokaw (from Come, The New Year).
In 2002, Mission of Burma reunited and began playing reunion shows with Bob Weston of Shellac (and formerly Prescott’s Volcano Suns bandmate) replacing Swope at the mixing board and tape manipulation.
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 2004.
In September 2005, the band began recording their third studio album and production duties this time were again handled by Bob Weston. Finally “The Obliterati” was released on Matador in 2006.
In March 2009 the band recorded 14 tracks for their fourth studio album entitled “The Sound The Speed The Light” and released in October.
Keeping their unorthodox song-writing style combined with anthematic elements and melodic hooks, Mission Of Burma delivered another exciting journey, both back to their roots and looking wide into the future.
Tracklist:
01 – Dust Devil
02 – Semi-Pseudo-Sort-Of Plan
03 – Sectionals in Mourning
04 – This Is Hi-Fi
05 – Second Television
06 – Part the Sea
07 – Fell–H2O
08 – Add in Unison
09 – 7′s
10 – What They Tell Me
11 – Opener
Mission Of Burma – Official Site
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHOcDRxWDMM&w=545&h=307]
