Mission Of Burma played shows in both Philadelphia and D.C. this past weekend. Click the links below to read some recent show reviews.

Philadelphia Show Review

D.C. Show Review

Mission of Burma has created three new t-shirts to celebrate the recent reissues as well as their upcoming US tour, which begins this Thursday, June 12th with the first of two shows at The Paradise in Boston. Check below for more tour dates and ticket links, or click on any shirt to be instantly transported to the Burma online store:

Thursday June 12th, 2008 - The Paradise in Boston, MA w/ Cul De Sac
Performing the entire album "Signals, Calls, and Marches" and more
18+ / $20 Tickets
Friday June 13th, 2008 - The Paradise in Boston, MA w/ A.K.A.C.O.D.
Performing the entire album "VS." and more
18+ / $20 Tickets
Discounted two-day Boston passes available here.
Saturday June 14th, 2008 - Bowery Ballroom in NY, NY w/ Neptune
Performing the entire album "Signals, Calls, and Marches" and more
21+ / $20 Tickets
Sunday June 15th, 2008 - Bowery Ballroom in NY, NY w/ And This Army
Performing the entire album "VS." and more
18+ / $20 Tickets
Discounted two-day New York passes available here. (Must be 21+ to purchase two-day NY pass)
Friday June 27, 2008 - First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, PA w/ guests TBA
Performing the entire album "Signals, Calls, and Marches" and more
All Ages / $18 Tickets
Saturday June 28, 2008 - Black Cat in Washington, D.C. w/ guests TBA
Performing the entire album "VS." and more
All Ages / $15 Tickets
Friday July 18, 2008 - Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, IL w/ Public Enemy and Sebadoh
Performing the entire album "VS."
All Ages / $30 Tickets
Saturday July 19, 2008 - Bohemian National Home in Detroit, MI w/ guests TBA
Performing the entire album "Signals, Calls, and Marches" and more
All Ages / $15 Tickets

June 8:


"Excellent French wine......"

We said our goodbyes to Shellac, who made this happen by tacking us on to their tour. Hell, we had been unable to get any gigs in Europe for any money at all, so Bob (initially) opened the Shellac door and gave us a credible series of shows in Spain and France. Mission of Burma definitely owes Bob one. (Hold it, Bob's also in Mission of Burma. So Bob owes himself one?)
Despite our wild enthusiasm at getting 3 hours of sleep and anticipating a full day of planes and airports, this upbeat vibe was slightly dampened by the odd walls thrown up by Paris airport protocol. But now we're spread out, thoroughly enjoying our 4 hours in the Amsterdam airport. I can almost feel the goodness and joy that will become mine during the 7 hour flight across the Atlantic. But not quite: I'm still in the airport.


"Thanks for reading........(photo: B.Weston, Bilbao)

June 7:

After a series of unremarkable events, which of course felt momentarily important to us, we arrive in Paris. We drive past Rue Edgard Varese, which gives us all a kick (he's a 20th Century "Serious Composer" who is often called "The Father of the Avant-Garde.").


"What we saw, for hours on end, every day........(the rental van from Prague)"

This is a rock festival, run very well. Our two cars were guided from the main park gate to our venue by a charming gal on a bicycle - how much more French can you get?
Amazing room and stage. The band before us on this evening curated by Shellac was Melt Banana. I had never seen them before, and they came highly recommended and I continue that high recommendation. Their conceptual gridding was on a par with DEVO and Shellac. And there is something about all three of those bands that is what I look for in bands: they go beyond music. Something else is activated through the music that is unique, that has nothing to do with the chords they play. (ed. note: you're stretching it there, Roger...)


"Melt Banana melted everything in sight......."

We took the stage in front of quite a large audience. However, the monitors were utterly different than they were during soundcheck, and this temporarily threw both Clint and Pete. Me? I don't use monitors, so there was no problem. I had been kind of ramped up by M.Banana's stage behavior, and possibly was running about more than usual. Our "resuscitates" were 1. "Anti-Aircraft Warning" - when we did that in the Moving Parts in 1978 did we ever imagine that Parisians would be slam-dancing to it in 2008? I don't think so; and 2. "Laugh the World Away", which, while screwed up in a couple places (mostly me....), still managed to work up a lather and, bizarrely, the audience really appreciated it.
We had to come back for an encore, a nice change from Nantes last night. This what's good about festivals: everyone there is really into music and is willing to listen and take a chance. And they come from all over the place, so then they go back and spread the word. Rumor has it we'll be playing France again next year at every single Bistro in Paris. The tour should last 5 or 6 years, and, mercifully, the driving time will be short between venues.
Shellac's set was notable especially for Steve's delivering the first couple minutes of "Can you Hear me Now?" in totally credible French, accent and all. The audience loved it, and it took me by surprise as well.

June 6:

This is the first night (Bordeaux, FR) that I actually got enuf sleep. In Bilbao there was the Guggenheim Museum (building designed by Gehry) with a surrealist exhibit and a superb installation by Serra - so who wouldn't cut sleep short again to go check it out? And at every other city there were things i didn't wanna miss. But there was nothing really to do in Bordeaux around our hotel (though Bob did show us a charming snap-shot of the train station) so sleep was on the list of accomplishments. The hotel had a "Nautical" motif: like living in a submarine. The smallest bed I've slept in since I was 5. The shower was attached to the sink faucet. All we needed were some depth charges at 200 meters, and the hallucination would've been complete.
We almost lost the Shellac van in a maze of one-way streets getting out of town: "Jimmy, there's a time to be an Ugly American: stay close enough to read their license plate and ignore those nasal curses!"


"Loading onto the stage at the Olympic in Nantes......"

Killer club. While Shellac checked, I sat at a cafe across the street from the venue, had a glass of wine, and worked on my drawings. Soundcheck and stage was much smoother than last night. Great dinner that the venue cooked for us. Bob doesn't like duck. The rest of us do.


"Doesn't get much more French than this: outdoor cafe, wine, art, club across the street......"

Despite the great stage and good soundcheck (and according to Bob, very good playing on our part), the French audience was quite reserved. Though they did seem to be paying attention: especially when I mentioned that the French beers are small (a fact: they are only about 8 oz.) and that we have BIG beers in America. "Go back to America, then!" someone shouted. That was the only real audience response we got. Though, as Steve pointed out (and I had more or less deduced) we were an utterly unknown item, and the audience actually listened (mostly). We're not exactly jaded rock stars (that's for sure), but when we break into Academy as the last song and there is ZERO recognition or specific response, it's slightly weird. It's probably good for us, you know. But, um, if you, dear reader, happen to be at any of our shows this summer, please indicate your enthusiasm with an "Oh yes, you lads really do play your instruments quite well!" or a "Gosh, that performance was really something, by golly!" or some utterance of similar import.
OK. Enough of this. Gotta go catch Shellac. Aren't you jealous? It has been really great playing w/those guys.
Later that night: Oh my God - while we were loading out I actually said "Tres Fucking Bien!". Will someone please shoot me now.....?

June 5:


"Despite impressions, Shellac members Bob and Todd do like bright colors...."

Burma vs. Shellac
(audience members were polled in both Spain and France, and despite - or because of - the language barrier, the consensus is that this is quite an accurate overview):

Dynamics:
S; 10.999........ to 11.
B: 9.5 to 11.

Harmonic Content (upper frequencies):
S: 115%
B: 93%

Harmonic Content (lower frequencies):
S: 79%
B: 93%

Distinction and Audible Separation of Frequencies:
S: 89%
B: 4%

Mean Hair Length:
S: 82
B: 63

Pre-planned Stage Antics:
S: 18%
B: n/a

Beer Consumption:
S: 0
B: 21

Chord Progressions per Show:
S: 2
B: 546

Use of Open Strings:
S: 71%
B: 72%

Ability to play the same riff the same way for over 15 seconds:
S: 80%
B: 2%

Common Denominator:
S: Weston
B: Weston

Perfect Set of Fingernails:
S: 66%
B: 75%

Is an Acquired Taste:
S: 94%
B: 94%


"Clint ponders the internet once again....." (photo B.Weston)

June 4:

Today was typical. Pete rose, brushed his teeth, then went back to bed. He has an interesting structure he builds every day from hotel hangers, arching the blankets up over him like a cave, and he sits up in bed watching movies. No light gets in. Speech becomes muted, unintelligible.

I stumbled downstairs, trying to recall which of the two pretty much lame Spanish beers I'd had more than 20 of the night before, begging for coffee. I walked out into the street and the blazing spanish sun smashed my head against the wall. When I recovered, I saw Clint down the street as if a mirage, calling out the various sights he'd already seen this day, skipping with a light lilt, kicking his heels together as he rounded the corner, like a pony in a flowering meadow in the spring.

Through the Hotel window I saw Jimmy in the corner of the lobby, pouring over maps of countries that don't exist, sweat dripping from his brow, plotting courses irrational, destinations futile.

We don't see Bob much: he stays in "the better suites". He usually starts the day working on obscure math problems with the other members of Shellac. Even 3 doors down, we can hear brutal arguments burst forth.

Sometimes us boys would go out, usually still in our stage clothes from the night before (sweat stains, torn at the elbows, torn at the knees) and pass Bob. He'd daub at his mouth with fine purple linen, removing dainty crumbs of a Spanish pastry delicacy called "Verdepanitas". If there were enough dignitaries about he'd avert his eyes when we passed, so as not to soil them with our visages.


"Pete was pre-maturely roused by an earthquake...." (photo: Clint)

Damn, Bilboa is possibly even more beautiful than Gijon. Are west coasts in every country beautiful? Got to the hotel and venue a bit early, so I delved into the new type of frottage work I initiated (in a serious stupor) in Barcelona. Definite potential. Back to the equipment van - nope, no one's unloading any gear (ed. note - it had already been moved inside). So, to stay outside, I'll have a beer (well, if you call Amstel a beer......) at an outdoor cafe, scribe into this computer, ponder more frottage work. All Burmen prowling about, scanning the sights. Assuming that the Hard Lacquered Surface is doing the same. They played here once before, and it is truly a beautiful venue. Ha. Clint just walked past - I tried my usual whistling tricks, but it all came out in a spanish modal vein and he didn't recognize it as me (usually my whistling sounds are more like feedback). That's what I get for adapting to the environment.


"Only in Spain: Ham-flavored potato chips....."

Later: packed club. Rockin' set by Mission of Burma: sold t-shirts from the stage. Rockin' set by Shellac; sold t-shirts from the stage. A great night.

Tonight's Resuscitates: New Nails (I fukt this one up nicely...) Devotion (Clint is finally getting the lyrics....)

June 3:

Food: cost money this time. Coffee: situation same as food. Talking: yes. Gear safe in van: no need to move. Get in van. Drive.

The eating, the drinking of the coffee, the amusing banter, the van doors opening and closing. The driving. It's pretty much universally the same (with slight variations). And generally pretty AOK for us. I mean, none of us have bad drug habits and we're all relatively "level-headed" (sic).

So we inserted the "All the Resuscitates" CD into the car's stereo to make sure we knew what we were doing. Yep, we didn't. A brief section in Weatherbox we'd completely forgotten about; a vocal I'd never learned in Progress; a drum part in Outlaw that Pete hadn't recalled; we even had the start of Devotion wrong. I mean, did we listen to these songs before we attempted to learn them? It was actually kind of fun to listen to them, even if we referred to it as "homework" and approached it with trepidation (do we really WANT to listen to recordings of us?).

Later we sang along heartily to early Kinks albums after indulging in a Love compilation (both courtesy of Pete's CD collection) - whew, some of that Love stuff is so on, and some is so skewed. Whilst viewing the damp Western slope heading into Gijon. Very cool.


"as we drove down to the ocean...."

In town, we were even more pleased. What a nice place! 125,000 inhabitants: not huge. The vibe was cheerful and upbeat, the weather sunny, the architecture charming, the streets clean.

Shellac's soundcheck was trashed because "the digital sound board" accidentally erased all the settings. So they had to do another soundcheck. Thus dinner was very skewed, and didn't finish until after we were supposed to be onstage. But the promoter was eating w/us, so we figured we were OK.

Our set tonight was by far the best we've done so far, despite a horrendous soundcheck. The audience was more non-plussed than the other two Spanish shows, but still it was pretty good. I mean, fuk, have we ever played Gijon before? (will we ever do it again?)

Shellac were superb as always. They function as one unit, and each lad has his own peronsality/stage presence (they each have solo moments during the set, much like the guys who sort of commandeer this site). At first I was trying to deduce if Mr. Albini violated my rule of "if you make more body moves than notes played, you must inherently suck". However, after using a protractor and a straight-edge (well, not exactly straight-edge), I came to the conclusion that his movements were well within the limitations set by performance etiquette. Actually, they kikt serious ass. Tonight the stage and the venue were expansive enough to see and hear well. As Jimmy said, "punishing". But if you aren't willing to step over that line you shouldn't be here. For the record, all the lads from M.o'Burma were there.


"ass was kicked."

Resuscitates (both went quite well.....):
Train of Thought.
Eyes of Men.

June 2:

1. Not enough sleep, blah, blah, blah
2. Hotel breakfast was good, blah, blah, blah
3. See other guys: can actually talk after drinking coffee, blah, blah, blah
4. Pack gear (for the first time - a nice puzzle to be solved), blah, blah, blah


"...and not for the last time.....L to R: Bob, Steve, Elliot (Shellac soundman), Clint."

Hmmm. This little Renault that Mission of Burma has temporarily purchased (leasing was oddly the best way for us to go on this jaunt) is not too uncomfortable. On the road we go. Spain is a little drier than we expected: like So Cal or the Western slope of the Rockies (except for the occasional castle tower on top of a rocky outcrop). I looked for rattlers at a road stop, but none showed their tails. Now we're passing some roadwork - half the guys are standing around, doing nothing, just like in Ohio. As Pete said - who would've thought that in 2008 Burma and Shellac would be touring Spain and France together? What peculiar cards have we been dealt?

The Madrid show was so packed (sold out, 350 people totally crammed in) that I couldn't go out to see Shellac. Their chant of "Hey Man, I wanna have a fight with you!" didn't seem to get any takers from the obviously cheery-as-hell audience. It was so crowded I couldn't get out to see Mission of Burma, either, but I heard that their set was pretty good, despite the guitar amp shutting down on their last song (Academy), which yielded an oddly a cappella coda version of the song. The happy audience seemed quite satisfied to have the guitar absent, and I found it quite refreshing.

"Tonight's Resuscitates":
Devotion.
We had to cut Train of Thought due to time constraints.


"Were we pissed that our set was shorter than Shellac's? No way - it was hot as hell on stage......!"

June 1:

We could've slept in later - we certainly needed the sleep after a late night - but no musician can resist a free breakfast, so we stoked up on the pretty decent hotel spread. Even after a couple cups of coffee, Pete and I both went back to bed and to sleep.

I roused around 1:30pm, and went to the lobby to find portions of Burma and Shellac congregated about a table (of course, any time Bob is there, portions of both bands are represented). We agreed to meet again at 7pm for a full-on dinner fest.

I can't stand the air in hotels, so I embarked on an extended scenic walk into ancient Barcelona.


The main cathedral in downtown Barcelona, designed by Gaudi.

I walked basically too much, but did see parts of Barcelona I hadn't seen when Alloy Orchestra was here 7 years ago. The seaside beach scene was quite charming despite the frigid water temperatures, and I scoped out a likely spot to have our "big dinner" - outside seating on the boardwalk with plenty of seafood choices. Managed to keep my legs moving and got back to our hotel by 6:30, where various clumps of us formed and reformed.

Finally we all congregated and hailed cabs (it was about a 25 minute walk to the restaurant). But no cab in Barcelona will take you anywhere that skimpy, so we ended up walking, the whole lot of us. I could hear murmuring amongst the troops - "Where is he taking us? Does he know what he's doing?" - but after a longish walk, the "Mango" (or Man Go) restaurant appeared mistily amongst the sea-foam.


The whole mob (except Clint who was doing shore duty): L to R: Pete, Bob, Todd, Barry, Deborah, Steve, Adrian, Elliot, Jimmy

Not only that, but the food was great. I was relieved - quite a weight on one to have lead potentially astray. An amusing and relaxed walk back home. Tomorrow will be an early rise and a long ride to Madrid. 7 shows in 7 days starts tomorrow. We should be in pretty good shape when we get back to Boston for playing the "Reissues" stuff.

May 31:

9am soundcheck. 6 hours of sleep. That's why rock festivals are so much fun. But we drank enough espresso to keep us too awake to go back to sleep, so Clint and I went on a subway ride to see the Gaudi (Spanish pre-absurdist/fantasist architect) Gardens. We had a fun nature walk and a grand time viewing Gaudi's seriously unique architecture, one of the high points of Barcelona.


Clint analyzing the fractal patterns of a Gaudi Ceiling.

Later I hung w/Jimmy, letting him vent to me about the absurd struggles to get our gear and Shellac's gear (we're doing the entire tour w/Shellac) into the rental van after our sets tonight, thence to the hotel for safety. Despite our hope that there would be a room to store the stuff, it looks like we're each gonna have to store all the stuff in our rooms. Well, at least Pete and I won't have to see each other when in the morning - our view will be fully blocked by drums.

So after the "this dinner is on the Festival" dinner, we ambled into the Primavera Festival area. The Dirty Projectors were very curious. Kinski nailed a certain type of post-psychedelic rock better than just about anyone else.

Our set was a bit rough and uneven, but overall we seemed to hold the stage and at times really get things going. The crowd - as big as any we'd seen at one of the stages (3 or 4 thousand?) - seemed to be very into it, in fact much more so than we were anticipating. And none of them left during the show! I screwed up the chords to Einstein's Day, a song we've played alot since we "reformed." But that's what happens: we just learned 11 "resuscitated songs" and now there are so many chord progressions in our skulls, that things get jostled. Hopefully by the time we play Boston, our neural pathways will have settled into the new correct patterns. At any rate, Mark (Kates) was there and gave us the impression that we had done a really good job.

Shellac played after us on a different stage. Their cover of "Horse with No Name" by the America was exceptional. After their rather stellar set, I huffed my way backstage to get at the free beer spigot. The place was teeming with scenesters, but Steve and Todd were holed up in their dressing room, and Bob was onstage overseeing the packing up of gear. The scenesters didn't seem to notice.


We played on the other side of this structure, down a sheer wall, while indie rockers poured over it, to their deaths, like Lemmings.

May 29-30:

We left Boston Harbor around 3:00pm on a cruise ship: no leg-bending airplane rides for us this time! We had a rehearsal space on one of the lower decks so we could rehearse the new stuff (New Nails, Train of Thought, Laugh the World Away, etc.). After rehearsal, we could wander freely on the deck. It was a beautiful, sunny day. In the evening we played by the pool for our fellow travelers. We were surprised and pleased by how well we were received in this rather unusual setting! (compared to our midwest shows in the early '80's, for example).

We were just launching into the opening pound of Devotion when I heard the waitress ask me if I wanted the chicken or the beef dinner. I lurched awake and found myself trapped in a 3' by 3' space, totally cramped. Pete was watching 2001 Space Odyssey on the tiny video monitor while I uttered my order. When she handed me the platter, I knocked the spoon onto the airplane floor and decided against picking it up (if I had tried, I would've broken my neck on the chair-back in front of me). The plastic fork will just have to do.


One of the most interesting events ever to happen on a plane (hands by Prescott).

I watched "I'm not There", the "Bob Dylan" film (quite the surreal experience), and for an hour and a half forgot I was squeezed into an airplane compartment.

Yeah, OK, so our guitars didn't make it to Barcelona from Amsterdam and this added another hour in an airport. But they're gonna deliver them to our hotel. Whee.


Jimmy and Pete waiting to see what th/fuk happened to our guitars.

After a brief nap at the hotel, I wandered over to the Primavera Festival area, and it is quite amazing. 5 stages spread out over a large area on the top of a hill overlooking the Barcelona harbor. Ran into Jimmy, and he slipped me 50 Euros to tide me over. Always good to run into Jimmy.

After a very bad burrito in the tent w/Pete, I stumbled around for a while "listening to rock music." My basic feeling was that there is WAY too much rock music in the world. (However, Jimmy found No Age quite interesting, and Clint swore I would've liked Autolux, but for some reason I missed them).

Yet I soldiered on until midnight (6 AM Boston time with 3 hours of sleep in a day and a half: the Jaegermeister helped alot) to catch DEVO. Finally, actual ideas executed well! What a joy! After a few of their famed videos, they launched into 3 synth-tracks from "New Traditionalists." While this is not my fave LP of theirs by any means, it was totally charming. It seemed like they were gonna play the entire album, so i thought about leaving - I mean, who in their right mind would want to hear a band play an entire album? But they shifted into older material, then all over their map with equal aplomb. Utterly fun and musically dead on. By "Mongoloid", I was even starting to cop the bop, as everyone around me was twitching some kind of dance to "one chromosome too many." Hit after hit. Later I felt myself marching briskly in step to "Walls of Steel", optimistically certain of my future. DEVO saved my day, for sure. (I later found out that Bob had been on the stage for their entire show, equally enthralled).

And our guitars finally showed up at the hotel. Still alive.

To celebrate Mission of Burma's upcoming Boston shows at the Paradise Rock Club, Newbury Comics is having an online contest to win a pair of tickets to either the June 12th Singals, Calls, and Marches show or the June 13th Vs. show. Visit the Newbury Comics website for more information.

Mission of Burma is busy getting ready for their upcoming tour in support of the recently released Mission of Burma: The Definitive Editions. These shows promise to be a unique experience, as each performance will feature one of the albums Signals, Calls, and Marches or VS. in its entirety. In addition, the Signals shows will feature early era Burma songs as well as "Academy Fight Song", "Devotion", "Execution" and "Max Ernst". The Vs. shows will include the album from start to finish, as well as four bonus tracks from the reissue.

Not a Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story is being featured this week on Pitchfork.tv, and they will be streaming the documentary over the site. Check it out here.

Mission of Burma will be playing a show at the Bohemian National Home in Detroit, MI on July 19th, 2008, which is the day after their performance at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival. For this one they'll be performing the whole of Signals, Calls, and Marches. The ticket presale for this show is up now. Further details below - hope to see you there.
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Detroit, MI
Bohemian National Home
Performing the album Signals, Calls, and Marches

Click here for a recent interview with Roger Miller in Drowned in Sound.
Also, a nice review of Matador's Mission of Burma: The Definitive Editions in Fuzz, and in case you haven't seen it yet, the stellar Pitchfork review.

Mission of Burma have added shows in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. to their June schedule. Tickets are available now for these shows through the Mission of Burma fan community presale. The presale ends Monday, May 12 at Midnight EST.

Friday, June 27th, 2008 - Philadelphia, PA at First Unitarian Church, performing the album Signals, Calls, & Marches
For presale tickets click here.
Saturday, June 28th, 2008 - Washington, DC at Black Cat, performing VS
For presale tickets click here.

Also, don't miss Burma's upcoming shows in Boston and New York, as well as at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival - see below for info and ticket links.

Thursday, June 12th, 2008 - Boston, MA at the Paradise Rock Club, performing Signals, Calls, & Marches (w/ Cul De Sac) Tickets
Friday, June 13th, 2008 - Boston, MA at the Paradise Rock Club, performing "VS" (w/ A.K.A.C.O.D.) Tickets
Discounted two-day Boston passes available HERE.

Saturday, June 14th, 2008 - New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom, performing Signals, Calls, & Marches Tickets

Sunday, June 15th, 2008 - New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom, performing VS Tickets

Discounted two-day New York passes available HERE.

Friday, July 18th, 2008 - Chicago, IL at Pitchfork Music Festival Tickets

Read this in-depth review of the Mission of Burma discography here.

Individual tickets are now available for Mission of Burma's upcoming shows in Boston and New York City! See below for show information and ticket links.

2 Shows at Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Thursday, June 12, 2008
performing the album Signals
Click HERE to purchase tickets for June 12.
Friday, June 13, 2008
performing the album VS
Click HERE to purchase tickets for June 13.

2 Shows at Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
Saturday, June 14, 2008
performing the album Signals
Click HERE to purchase tickets for June 14.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
performing the album VS
Click HERE to purchase tickets for June 15.

Mission of Burma have just confirmed a string of New England shows for this September. Online ticket presales for the first three shows start Wednesday, August 15. Presale for the shows at the ICA will be phone-order only, beginning on Thursday, August 23rd. You can pre-order tickets here. Hope you can make it out.

9/20/07 Toad's Place - New Haven, CT
9/21/07 Pearl Street Downstairs - Northampton, MA
9/22/07 Decibel - Providence, RI
9/23/07 Institute of Contemporary Art - Boston, MA Two shows! 4pm and 8pm

Mission of Burma will be featured on this week's edition of SOME REAL MUSIC, Wed. night @ midnight (Aug. 8th) in Manhattan on Time Warner cable channel 57, RCN cable channel 84 and worldwide on the web at MNN.org (select channel 57). Featured will be footage from last summer's performance at Warsaw in Brooklyn, including their tribute to then recently deceased Syd Barrett, with a cover of Syd's "Astronomy Domine" and a 1979 composition in tribute to Syd by guitarist Roger Miller.

Roger has placed an ad on Craigslist seeking guitar students - check out his ad.
Also dig the article Pitchfork ran about it here.

Brown has informed us that there might be yet another smattering of tickets made available for Saturday's show tomorrow morning (Friday) at 10AM. The ticket link remains the same.

It looks as though the weather on Saturday in Providence should be warm and welcoming. Brown has therefore moved the Flaming Lips/Yo La Tengo/MoB shindig outside onto the Main Green and will be opening up more tickets tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 10AM. Gate opens at 2PM. Show starts at 2:30. Tickets will be available right here.

Mission of Burma have been nominated in a couple of categories (including 'Best Local Act' and 'Best Local Album') in the 2007 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. If you'd care to vote for Burma, or any of the other fine nominees, you can do so right here.

We would like to forward the following:

"Janet Morgan (Channels/Shonben) & J. Robbins (Jawbox/Burning Airlines/Channels) have a son, Callum, who turned 1 in January, 2007. Approximately 6 months prior to his birthday, Callum was diagnosed with with a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Type 1 SMA affects the brain's ability to communicate with the voluntary muscles that are used for crawling, walking, head & neck control, breathing, and swallowing. Most Type 1 babies will die before their second birthday. Infants who do survive into childhood face a life of occupational therapy, wheelchairs, and assistive devices. There is currently no known cure."

While most conventional medicines are covered by insurance, many alternative treatments and therapies that could enhance the child's life are not. The Cultural Society, Catlick Records, & Letterbox have compiled a 32-track benefit compilation to assist Janet and J. in raising the funds to seek out these treatments. Mission of Burma have contributed a cover of Cream's 'N.S.U.' to the disc (which also features submissions from Jawbreaker, Arcwelder and Travis Morrison, among others). 100% of the proceeds will go to Callum Robbins' care fund.

The disc can be ordered from Catlick right here.

More information about Callum and a link to make a direct donation to Janet and J. can be found right here.

If you'd like to learn more about SMA, please visit SMAFoundation.org.

Hey all, We're happy to report that two of MOB's January shows have made their way up onto the Live Music Archive. You can check out the Atlanta and NYC gigs right here.

Thanks to Dan and Sloan for sharing.

So we've got good news and bad news regarding the Brown University Mission of Burma show.

Bad news first. The Roots will unfortunately be unable to appear at Brown University on April 19th, hence, Mission of Burma's set has been canceled.

The good news? We've been rescheduled to appear at Brown on Saturday, April 21st. MOB have been added to the bill for The Flaming Lips/Yo La Tengo show. Doors for the show are 2PM and it'll take place on the Main Green (or, if it rains, Meehan Auditorium). Tickets are currently sold out, but more are expected to be released later in the week. If you're part of our email list, you'll know sooner than anyone else.

We hope to see you there.

Roger contributed the following to the Boston Metro. It ran in last weekend's edition. We don't really know where to begin, but we're pretty sure it's amazing. It's sure to make you smile, anyways...

Eventually, it'll be scanned in and archived here on Burma.com, but for the time-being, you can follow this link. Scroll down to page 9 for the "Tabloid Headline" - ahead to page 12 for the full article. This really is the recommended way to take in the article...seeing it formatted for the paper is half the fun.

If you can't upload the pdf file, feel free to head over to our MySpace, where you can find the clipped text.

Many thanks to all of you who came out and joined Burma over the last two weekends on the road. If you couldn't make it, Spin.com has posted a nice piece regarding Saturday's homecoming show that you can check out here.

MoB will be featured on SOME REAL MUSIC Wednesday night 1/10 at midnight, Time Warner cable channel 57, RCN cable channel 85 and or on-line at MNN.org (select channel 57 -- windows media player required; free download available on website). Footage from last summer's concert at Warsaw in Williamsburg, Brooklyn will be featured.

We'd like to thank The Noise (Boston's fantastic Zine) for the 7 nominations in the 2006 Noise Poll. If you would like to vote Click here.

Presales for the Burma shows in Chicago and Atlanta are now up and running. Quantities are limited and they'll go fast. Snag them while you can here.

Tickets for Burma's January 19th show at Irving Plaza in NYC have already gone on-sale. You can find them here.

The Presale for the January 20th Paradise show is closed. Tickets go on-sale to the general public on Saturday, Dec. 2nd at Noon, right here.

We're very happy to announce that Mission of Burma are now confirmed for four shows in January.

Friday, January 12th at the Double Door in Chicago, IL
Saturday, January 13th at Earl in Atlanta, GA

Friday, January 19th at Irving Plaza in New York City.
Saturday, January 20th at The Paradise in Boston, MA.

Presale tickets for the Boston show have sold out. Tickets for that show go on-sale to the general publik on Saturday, Dec. 2nd at 12PM EST.

Presales for all other shows will begin shortly. Stay tuned.

Popcorn Youth recently conducted a fantastic interview with Roger for the Ithaca Times Arts Blog. Check it out here.

Not A Photograph is now available. You can pick up a copy right here.

It's come to our attention that a MusicToday presale email mistakenly listed the upcoming Paradise show as taking place on November 20th, 2006. The correct date is January 20th, 2007. We apologize for any confusion.

We’re thrilled to announce that Burma’s first show of 2007 has been confirmed. On Saturday, January 20th, 2007, MOB will return to the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA. There are a limited amount of pre-sale tickets available through the link directly above. Burma’s last three shows at the Paradise sold out, so you might want to snag your tickets now. Support for the event will be announced sooner than later.

Oh, and tentative plans might see the band do a little bit of traveling right after the Boston gig. Stay tuned.

We’d also like to remind you that “Not A Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story” will be screening this Tuesday night (11/21 – same day that the DVD hits shelves) at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Tickets for the screening are still available at the Coolidge Corner box-office or online right here. The boys will be on-hand to check out the film and scribble on your copies after it’s over. We hope to see you there.

A special presentation of "Not A Photograph" will be airing on Concert.TV, airing all month beginning November 15th. Coming just a week before the DVD hits the shelves, Concert.TV will be whetting our appetites with a 20-minute featured excerpt from the film.
Concert.TV is a free, on-demand music television channel, available to Comcast, Cox & Charter digital cable subscribers. If you're on Comcast, go to Channel 1/ On Demand, then go to Music, and click on the concert.tv page. Not A Photograph can be found under the Films & Docs tab. To find out more, visit www.concert.tv/

The DVD release of Not A Photograph will include a number of bonus features, including:

- Linear notes written by Michael Azerrad ("Our Band Could Be Your Life")

- Archival footage of The Moving Parts - 3 full songs

- Full versions of "Peking Spring" @ The Space, 1979 and "This Is Not A Photograph" @ The Paradise, 1980

- Mission of Burma - Archival footage, WBZ-TV Boston local news segment, 1983. Includes rare footage, MOB performing on soundstage and WBCN radio interview footage.

- 6 full live performances from the "Inexplicable" reunion, 2002. "Secrets" @ 608 Club, "Trem Two" @ Irving Plaza, "Einstein's Day" @ The Paradise, "Academy Fight Song" @ Irving Plaza, "All World's Cowboy Romance" @ Irving Plaza and "Wounded World" @ Avalon.

- ONoffON recording footage.

Someone in Australia threw this up on Youtube. We just thought we'd share. It's rather cute.

It does make one wonder if perhaps this website should have an archive of user created materials, though.

Stay tuned.

Roger recently added a "Cocktail Piano Version" of Academy Fight Song to the music player on our MySpace page. He worked this up in 1981 (as well as Max Ernst and OK/No Way). It's kind of a parody of a parody. You can check it out right here.

We'll have more news regarding the DVD and other developments in the Burmal Universe once the world starts spinning again...

We're very happy to note that Michael Azerrad, who wrote about the band so kindly in Our Band Could Be Your Life, has written the liner notes for the DVD release of 'Not A Photograph'.

That's right, it looks like the Element Productions documentary on MOB, 'Not A Photograph', will finally see the light of day on DVD on November 21st!

MVD Entertainment will be handling the release. You can find out more about what they do here or simply keep up with the doc. at it's official website here. Of course, we'll keep you up to date right here on MOB.com and over at theMySpace.

Although the show was basically hi-jacked by a friendly, dancing bear, 'The Obliterati' was honored with an award for "Album of the Year (Indie Label)" at the 19th annual Boston Music Awards last night. Many thanks to any and all of you who took the time to vote.

Just a heads up that that footage from the recent Warsaw show will be featured on an upcoming broadcast of SOME REAL MUSIC on MNN, NYC Time Warner cable channel 56, RCN cable channel 84 and worldwide on the web at mnn.org -- select channel 56 -- Wednesday 9/27 @ 4:30 pm. (set your dvrs, vcrs, TiVo!)

Here is Roger Miller's COMPLETE tour diary that he wrote the west coast dates for Pitchfork.

Part I-Thursday, September 14: "From Boston to Seattle"
Part II-Friday, September 15: "Seattle
Part III- Saturday, September 16: Portland, OR
Part IV- Sunday, September 17: "Portland to Eugene"
Part V- Monday, September 18: "Eugene to the South"
Part VI- Tuesday, September 19: "To Sacramento" "
Part VII- Wednesday, September 20: "San Francisco" "
Part VIII- Thursday, September 21: "Pacific Coast Highway" "
Part IX- Friday, September 22: "Los Angeles." "
Part X- Saturday, September 23: "San Diego." "
Part XI- Tuesday, September 26: "The End." "

Alloy Orchestra Midwest Tour Fall 2006
For more information go to Alloyorchestra.com

Sept 29, 30, Oct 1
Detroit Institute of Art
Each night: Double feature – Phantom of the Opera and Nosferatu

October 3
Milwaukee, Times Cinema
Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail and Nosferatu

October 5
Lincoln Nebraska, Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center
Phantom of the Opera

October 7 & 8
Kansas City International Film Festival
The Eagle starring Rudolph Valentino

October 11
St. Louis, Webster University
Phantom of the Opera

October 12
Chicago Cultural Center
The Eagle starring Rudolph Valentino

October 13
Decatur, Illinois - Avon Theater
Films TBA

October 14
Indy Memphis Film Festival
Phantom of the Opera

Michael Patrick MacDonald's new book "Easter Rising" will be out on Sept 27th! MacDonald first won our hearts with his best-selling memoir All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. Easer Rising tells the story on MacDonald's loss of 4 siblings to Southie’s violent and poverty ridden streets. When he needed a place to escape in the 1980’s, MacDonald found his refuge in local Boston punk bands such as Mission of Burma.

Here is what Clint Conley has to say about the book-
“MacDonald’s Easter Rising recounts his escape from South Boston’s public housing projects through the rabbit hole of the early ’80s Boston punk scene, and his account of the cultural underground is shot through with nuance, heart, and humor. But let’s get real—for true transgressive power, what chance do a bunch of art school punk bands have against his wild-haired, foot-stomping mother when she breaks out her accordion in public? Now THAT is true punk, and MacDonald comes to realize it. A well-wrought tale of personal transformation, Easter Rising hits all the right notes.”

On Sept 30th at 7:30 at Great Scott in Allston, MA Michael Patrick MacDonald will be reading excerpts from his new novel as well as selling and signing copies (courtesy of Brookline Booksmith)

A few new screenings of the recently debuted Burmal documentary, "Not A Photograph", have been announced by Element Productions. We're very happy to note that the film will make it's over-sea debut as part of the Rain Dance Film Festival in London. All of the info we currently have is below. Stay tuned to Missionofburma.com and our MySpace for any updates.

October 4th
London, England - Rain Dance Film Festival
Website

November 2-5th
San Francisco, CA - Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Website

Mission of Burma will be back on the road in just a little over two weeks for a seven date tour that will take them down the West Coast. Dates and ticket links are below.

Perhaps of more interest to those of you who can't make the journey to the Left Coast, we're very excited to announce that Roger will be bringing his laptop with him for a tour diary of sorts that will be hosted by the friendly folks at Pitchfork!

If you've never had the chance to check out Roger's writing, you can check out the previous tour blogs he wrote for Slate.com over here, or his more recent piece on the Burma-Brazil experience right here.

Sept. 15th – Croc. Café – Seattle, WA
w/50 Foot Wave. $15/21+. Buy tickets.

Sept. 16th – Doug Fir – Portland, OR
w/50 Foot Wave. $15/21+. Buy Tickets.

Sept. 17th – WOW Hall – Eugene, OR
w/50 Foot Wave. $15 adv/$17 door. All Ages. Buy Tickets.

Sept. 19th – Harlow’s - Sacramento, CA
w/50 Foot Wave. $13/21+. Buy Tickets.

Sept. 20th – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
w/50 Foot Wave. $21/6+. Buy Tickets.

Sept. 22nd – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
w/50 Foot Wave. $20/21+. Buy Tickets.

Sept. 23rd – brick by brick – San Diego, CA
w/50 Foot Wave and Kill Me Tomorrow. $15/21+. Buy Tickets.

The video for the original version of 'Wounded World', which Roger recorded under NO MAN in 1991 (and later brought to 'ONoffON'), has surfaced on Youtube! You can wander over here to check it out.

Mission of Burma were recently live in-studio as guests on Sound Opinions, which airs on Chicago Public Radio. You can download an MP3 stream or Podcast of their appearance at Sound Opinion's website (it's show #38). Live performances include, "2wice", "Donna Sumeria", "Max Ernst" and "Let Yourself Go". Check it out!

Mission of Burma wrapped up a five date tour of the Midwest and Canada with a performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival on Sunday. We'll have photos, setlist information and more up on the website and MySpace shortly, but here are a couple of the notices that we've caught so far.

Marathonpacks reviewed the entire festival and had some very kind words to say about Burma (with a great photo) here.

False 45th has a caption here.

Fluxblog has a review of the entire weekend with a Burmal mention here.

Finally, the Chicago Sun-Times has an article about the festival, with a few very nice words about Burma, over here.

A couple of new reviews and bits of press have been filtering in over the past couple of weeks. Here's a few of note.

Jonah Bayer interviewed Clint for Cleveland.com's Plain Dealer. You can read the article here.

The Canadian website Chart Attack has a short interview with Roger that is well worth a read. Check it out.

The Gentleman's magazine Stuff listed 'Let Yourself Go' among their '10 Songs to Download' in the Hype section of their July issue [#80, p. 35].

AP has a review of the album in their August issue, they gave it a 4 outta 5 and noted that it's, Yet another rock-solid album. [p.204]

The British music magazine MOJO gave 'The Obliterati' a stellar **** review, declaring it Equal parts bludgeoning Art Brut and soaring pop grace. [Aug 2006, p.94]

The L Magazine recently ran a nice post regarding the Warsaw show and an excellent interview with Peter that you should check out here.

Issue #263 of the Noise (the Sick Summer Double Issue) features Roger on the cover and includes an interview with Clint, Peter and Roger. As of this moment, you can read the entire thing here. Just be sure leave a snarky comment on the Noise Board while you're at it.

Q magazine had very nice things to say about the new album in the August issue [241], (MOB) kick sand in the eyes of today's angular art-brats...proof that alternatives to burning out or fading away exist.

The Village Voice has a great article on Burma that includes commentary from Clint, Roger and Peter. Read it here.

Will Spitz reviewed the Paradise show for the Phoenix's 'On the Download' column - check it out.

Nice New York Press article regarding the album and tour. Take a look.

The Boston Globe chimed in about Burma's tour-opening show at the Paradise in Boston on July 13th. If the astoundingly solid and artful sold-out show at the Paradise was anything to go by, Burma is now far removed from the nostalgia circuit. This is real. This is art. This is now. Full article.

Punknews.org gave 'The Obliterati' **** and noted that, Fans of angular and experimental punk like Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Hüsker Dü and Wire will find much to love about The Obliterati as will fans of creative, forward-looking music. Check it out.

Drawer B has an amazing review posted. Mission of Burma just makes all the imitators sound silly. I simply can’t get over how good this record is....This is Mission of Burma’s most aggressive and impassioned record to date. Check it out in full.

New Musical Express has had their say, Kicks with a passion and inventiveness that's seen them steam up the specs of everyone from Moby to Graham Coxon. [17 Jun 2006, p.39]

Rolling Stone recently reviewed 'The Obliterati' (it's the issue with the Johnny Depp pirate on the cover) and declared that The Obliterati, just sounds like the new Burma album...Roger Miller's multilayered guitar attack buzzes and hisses as fiercely as any other band out there. You can check out the entire review here. Their editors also very kindly decided that 'Spider's Web' is one of the week's 'Hot Tracks'.

Good news and possibly not so good news for those of you intending on joining us for the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago.

Tickets for the second day of the Festival (which Burma is playing) are sold out. If you haven't managed to secure yours yet, then we certainly invite you to join us the night before at the Lite Brite Test Festival in Newport, KY (just over the river from Cincinnati). In addition to Burma's performance at Lite Brite, there will be screenings of the recently debuted 'Not A Photograph' documentary, as well.

For those of you who have already secured your way into the Pitchfork Fest, we've recently learned that Burma will be performing at 5:10 PM on the 'A Stage' (although that could change at any time), between sets from Liars and Yo La Tengo. Should be good fun.

Hope to see you there.

The three new t-shirt designs that were unveiled at Burma's MassMOCA show last Saturday (set-lists and photos from said show will be up on our website and MySpace shortly) are now available in our on-line shop. Each shirt is double-sided, with a small MOB insignia on the back. Here's what we've got:



Click here to enlarge.


Click here to enlarge.


Click here to englarge.

These designs will be available as part of a limited run. If anything catches your eye, it might be worth picking up sooner than later.

Uncut Magazine recently reviewed 'The Obliterati'. They very kindly gave it **** and note that, MoB have not lost a cent of their turbulent, controlled-chaos energy. [Jul 2006, p.101]

The Wire also dropped a review that you can check out in the latest issue. Generally pretty good, though - Packed with energy and furious with ideas. [#269, p.45]

We're very happy to announce that Mission of Burma will be embarking on a tour of the West Coast in September.

There will be pre-sales for most of the these shows (except where noted), next week,
through the mailing list that you can sign up for at the bottom of the page.

Below are the confirmed dates.

9/15 - Seattle at the Crocodile Cafe
Pre-sale tickets will not be available for this show.
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, June 15th at MIDNIGHT, Pacific Time.
$15.00/21+

9/16 - Portland, OR at Doug Fir

9/17 - Eugene, OR at WOW Hall

9/19 - Sacramento, CA at Harlow's

9/20 - San Francisco, CA at Great American Music Hall

9/22 - Los Angeles, CA at Troubadour
Pre-sale tickets will not be available for this show.
Tickets go on-sale Thursday, June 15th at 10AM, Pacific Time.

9/23 - San Diego, CA at Brick By Brick

Pop Matters is currently running an excellent feature about the band and 'The Obliterati'. It's pretty extensive and includes an exclusive commentary from Clint. Take a look for yourself.

On top of crashing into the station's Top 10, 'The Obliterati' was named 'album of the month' by the staff of the Left End over at Boston's WERS. You can read the ever so pleasant review here.

Finally, Shaking Through has a great review of the album over here.

Burmal-bots by Bryan Bruchman - used with permission.


We're slightly in awe of the fact that 'The Obliterati' has climbed into the Top 10 of the CMJ charts (College Radio Airplay). It landed this week at #8.


With all of the news flying around regarding the album release, we're afraid that the upcoming Summer tour plans have almost slipped into the background. Hence, a reminder.

Mission of Burma will be marching across the country to the Pitchfork Music Festival on July 30th. Dates are as follows:

07/01/06
North Adams, MA
Mass MOCA

07/13/06
Boston, MA
The Paradise Rock Club

07/14/06
Brooklyn, NY
Warsaw

07/15/06
Washington, DC
The Black Cat

07/16/06
Philadelphia, PA
First Unitarian Church

07/26/06
Toronto, Canada
Horseshoe Tavern

07/27/06
Cleveland, OH
The Grog Shop

07/28/06
Detroit, MI
The Magic Stick

07/29/06
Cincinnati, OH
The Southgate House
Lite Brite Test Festival

It looks like there may be plans for fun in the sun on the kinder coast towards the end of the Summer.

Stay tuned.

There seems to be some steady chatter regarding this little album...

Michael Brodeur, the Music Editor from Boston’s Weekly Dig, gave the Obliterati an amazing review, declaring that Mission of Burma have made their best record ever. Not kidding. It's incredible...simply too many beautiful moments to tell you about here. This year's best album, yo. Take a look at the full text here and while you're at it, be sure to check out the new Michael Bolton review, as well.

The Austin Chronicle offers that, Standouts "1001 Pleasant Dreams" and "13" wipe down the band's more melodic side, while "Spider's Web" and "Let Yourself Go" sound just as urgent and bottom-heavy as anything MoB throttled 20 years ago. The full piece is here.

The Sunday Times reviewed the album, noting that, the second album of Burma's second phase still pushes the limits. You can find the rest over here.

Stylus Magazine had their say...The Obliterati succeeds in proving that Mission of Burma is not only capable of a comeback and a return to form, but also has exponential potential to evolve and thrive as a working band. No throwbacks or nostalgia trips are necessary, the band is moving only upward, onward, and forward, bristling with fervent intensity. There's actually more.

The latest issue of Spin offers that, Fifty year old men rarely sound this enraged and energized. Neither do twenty-somethings.

Spokane's The Inlander gives 'The Obliterati' ****1/2 and notes that, these guys slash, gouge, and pound away as if every moment were their last. Take a look.

Transform Online opines, For all the talk of Burma stepping right back into form upon reuniting, they prove it here to a degree that no one expected. Many said Burma were at the top of their game when they quit in 1983. It’s clear now that they weren’t even close to the top then and are still rising today.

Extensive review in the Chicago Maroon. Highlights include, Arguably their most exciting, and certainly their most challenging, release to date...“Nancy Reagan’s Head” takes the entire album’s bitterness and condenses it into one of the most inspired punk anthems of the decade. The full piece is a great read. Check it out.

Finally, it turns out Sub-inev was being nice after all... these 14 tracks are some of the best rock songs I've heard so far this year. I'm glad to see that Mission of Burma still has "it" and that they're going strong. Check out the site (and the amazing Burmal-bots that Bryan very kindly allowed us to post above) here.

In case you missed it in this week's print edition, the Boston Phoenix have posted Jim Sullivan's article about Burma on the interweb. The full read is here.

Mission of Burma invited Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis to join them on stage for a cover of Roxy Music's 'Editions of You' at the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival a couple of weeks ago. J was kind enough to oblige and rather handily filled in for Phil Manzanera.

As it turns out, someone in the crowd managed to videotape the collaboration and, as most things do, it ended up on YouTube. The audio and video are a little rough, but it's certainly worth a look. Check it out here.

It's been brought to our attention that 'The Obliterati' audio posted on iTunes was faulted. The album should be back up in the iTunes store, skip free, on Tuesday. If you happened to purchase a defective copy, please visit this site and Apple Support will credit your account for the purchase.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Urban Pollution has posted a great read and offers that the album is, ...sharp, raucous, and miraculously exuberant stuff. The full text.

Canada's Chartattack posted a glowing review of 'The Obliterati', declaring that, If you're truly in the mood to rock in 2006, The Obliterati should be your first and last stop. Take a look.

The bloggers are also having their say on the album. In fact, some of the more interesting views and reviews are popping up there. The general impression we have is that the album doesn't suck, anyways...

Drake Lelane wrote a fantastic piece about the album in his blog Thus Spake Drake. ...so glad they stuck around to make what could end up being the best rock album of the year. Check out the whole thing here.

I Rock Cleveland has a song-by-song break down of the album here.

While this looks like a positive review from Compas 6/8 (no thanks to Google's 'translate' feature), no one here can be absolutely sure. Any thoughts?

loudersoft has a great bit on the album and a stream of 'Birthday' here.

Yer Mam! posted a short review warning that, The Obliterati is a pummelling, granite-hard beast of a record that makes me want to smash shit up. There's more here.

Jonathan Harnish at Built on a Weak Spot had a few kind words to say about the album here.

Cahl's Juke Joint looks to make 'Nancy Reagan's Head' required listening for journalism students. Take a look.

clicky clicky music blog offers that 'The Obliterati' is, crucial...perhaps even a classic. Proof.

We hope Sub-inev is speaking well of the album. Regardless, here's the review in question.

Finally, an English blog From a Voice Plantation has reviews of both All Tomorrow's Parties and new album. The Obliterati' is noisy, raw, heavy, paranoid, trippy, haunting/haunted, anthemic, beautiful, their sound is very peculiar as ever, seems to express all sorts of complex interior half states and feelings beyond the abrasive surface.

The reviews just keep on coming...

The Washington Post ran an excellent review, noting that, Mission of Burma proves that art can still triumph over mere commerce. After registering for free, you can check out the entire piece here.

The New York Observer had similarly sweet things to say, stating that, "This is Burma’s rawest, most severe work to date—a coarser grade of sandpaper than even the classic 80’s recordings". The full review is here.

America's Finest News Source The Onion gave 'The Obliterati' an 'A-'.Two albums into its second life, Mission Of Burma is making its legendary early days seem like a prelude. The review can be found in the A.V. Club, but it's recommended that you paw through the rest of the site, as well.

Playboy, yep Playboy, declares, "MoB is no easier a pill to swallow than it was 25 years ago, but the band is frequently worth the trouble". Subsequently, 'The Obliterati' received 3 bunnies outta 4. Check it out.

Blender offered reassuring words, A fierce, arty mix of melody and brute clatter...Expect a bright future for this little band.

Filter Magazine gave the album a 90% approval-rating and, more amazingly, resurrected the term 'Massholes'. Seriously. How the hell do these 40-something Massholes rock with the urgency of Fugazi and the intelligence of Gang of Four (not just the basslines)? And where do these guys get off taking a 20-year hiatus only to return like Lazarus with a volume fetish?

The Boston Herald gave 'The Obliterati' an 'A' and said, (The Obliterati) is denser, darker, noisier and, yes, more fun than the Burma of old. You can read it here.

THE OBLITERATI HAS ARRIVED.
Double LP and Limited edition CD/DVD now available.
Buy it directly from us here.

Well, the album's out and the reviews are flooding in. Here's what we've seen so far:

Pitchfork has posted a fantastic review of the album. They're making their noise their way, the same way they did some two decades ago. And it's a sound as vital and inspirational as ever. Check it out here.

The Boston Globe remarked that, We shouldn't be surprised at how great, and essential, the band sounds... Check out the full article here.

Aversion has an amazing review. The Obliterati is powerful, smart and noisy, and, in a perfect world, would be enough to re-start the whole punk thing back at 1975 ground zero. In full.

Time Out New York has the following, The Obliterati succeeds wildly: These 14 all-new songs might even take 1983’s legendary Vs. in a fair fight. Check it out in depth here.

The New York Sun offers, The Obliterati finds Mission of Burma's diamond-hard sense of quality control intact and proves that the band has lost not a whit of energy or taste for noisy experimentation. You can check out the piece in full, with a free trial subscription, here.

All Music gave 'The Obliterati' ****1/2 and offered that, Sonic rabble-rousing doesn't get much better than this. There's more here.

Cokemachine Glow said, They’ve managed to produce the best American rock record of the year so far; not bad for a bunch of middle-aged guys from Boston with a nasty case of tinnitus. Read more here.

Dusted Magazine opines, This time, they're even better, more cohesive and confident, louder and funnier, still learning from life and each other, and using that experience to create ever more compelling music. Check it out.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer decided that, If it weren't for the light melodic overtones, the pressure of this album would easily crush your head. You can find it here.

Billboard notes, In music, as in life, things go in cycles, and the melodic yet dissonant sea of guitar attack Burma brings to the table sounds arguably more relevant today than it did 20 years ago. Go here for the full review.

For those of you in New England.

Newbury Comics, the Boston based record-chain, is offering an exclusive bonus to the first few customers to pick up copies of 'The Obliterati' at their retail locations. With purchase of the CD, you'll receive a copy of the cover booklet signed by Clint, Roger and Peter. While the band's throbbing hands may indicate otherwise, supplies on these are rather limited - we're told that each location will at least have five on-hand.

Buddyhead is currently running a Mission of Burma contest.

One grand prize winner wins a copy of the new album "The Obilterati" (Limited edition CD/DVD), the band's last album "OnOffOn", and the album poster designed by Shepard Fairey (OBEY / GIANT.) Five runner ups win a copy of the new album "The Obilterati" (single CD version) and the album poster designed by Shepard Fairey (OBEY / GIANT.)

Those of you in the Boston area may have noticed that this week's print edition of The Phoenix ran a bit on the front page regarding an exclusively downloadble Burmal mp3. Well, in addition to hosting free downloads of Clint's '2wice' and the non-subscription series Roger Miller tune 'Donna Sumeria', their website went one further and posted a piece on the Obliterati Party that took place Tuesday at the Enormous Room in Cambridge. If you're bummed about the fact that you missed DJ sets from Roger and Peter, check this out. It's a great read.

The first reviews of 'The Obliterati' have started popping up in print and on the web.

Issue #58 of The Big Takeover is now on stands (Franz Ferdinand is on the cover). Jack Rabid honored the album with the top spot in his 'Top 40'. You can read an excerpt of the review on the BTO's website here.

And The Stranger out of Seattle very kindly graced the album with a **** review. Check it out.

Just a reminder that Burma are currently in England, preparing for two shows bookending the weekend.

The first appearance will be tomorrow night at, well, All Tomorrow's Parties, as part of a bill curated by Dinosaur Jr. Other acts include Broken Social Scene, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dead Meadow and Teenage Fanclub.

Monday will find the band in London, supporting Broken Social Scene during their show at KOKO.

They hope to see your smiling or sneering faces there.

As some of you may have noticed, the NYC show at the Warsaw on July 14th wasn't listed in the previous presale...sorry 'bout that.

There will be a pre-sale for this show, and this show only, starting tomorrow morning at 10AM. Those of you who signed up for the mailing list will receive more information, shortly.

Just a reminder that there will be an intimate listening party for Mission of Burma's new album, 'The Obliterati', TONIGHT at the Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA. DJ sets will be provided by members of the band and DJ Carbo and we'll be screening the live bonus DVD, as well.

The Enormous Room is located at 567 Mass. Ave in Cambridge.
The event is free to the public, but it is +21.
Festivities begin at 9PM.

There are three new t-shirt designs available in our on-line shop, including:

The first 'Obliterati' design:



Peter's Black-Metalesque Pentagram design:



and the Lookout design in two shades of grey:



In addition to the brand new shirts, we've decided that the time is finally right to introduce the world to Roger's 'No New McCarthy Era' Burmugs.

Yep, Burmugs. Located in the Misc. section:

In addition to the previously announced Listening Party at the Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA, on Tuesday the 16th, several other events have started popping up around the country. Below are the events we know about at the moment.

SAN FRANCISCO:
This Saturday, May 13th at the 540 Club.
540 Clement St. @ 7th Ave.
SF, CA 94118
(415) 752-7276

This also the opening night for PUT UP OR SHUT UP which will be displaying some of the SF Bay areas finest poster artists, including: The Firehouse, Lil Tuffy, Paul Imagine, Chris Shaw, Alan Hynes, Christian Hall, Dennis Loren, Chip Walker, Jon Paul Bail, and more! The organizer, Justin O'Neal, will be DJ'ing the entire night! Give-aways courtesy of Matador.

There will be more information regarding the following events soon.

Thursday May 11
Panic!
Tempe, AZ

Saturday May 20
Shake! at Rogue Bar
Scottsdale, AZ.

Saturday 20th
Smitten/POP!/Shout! @ Nosh
Jacksonville, FL

Tuesday May 23
Pianos upstairs at "Get on the Dancing Shoes"
New York, NY

Friday May 26
9pm @ GRAB BAR
Houston TX
Eric Castillo/DJ Ceeplus & the House of Bad Knives

May 27
Tiswas 2.0
New York, NY

We're very pleased to announce that Mission of Burma have confirmed a short July tour that will lead us up to the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. The pre-sale begins tomorrow at 10AM and runs through Friday. Dates are as follows:

07/13/06
Boston, MA
The Paradise Rock Club

07/14/06
Brooklyn, NY
Warsaw

07/15/06
Washington, DC
The Black Cat

07/16/06
Philadelphia, PA
First Unitarian Church

07/26/06
Toronto, Canada
Horseshoe Tavern

07/27/06
Cleveland, OH
The Grog Shop

07/28/06
Detroit, MI
The Magic Stick

07/29/06
Cincinnati, OH
The Southgate House
Lite Brite Test Festival

We're thrilled to announce that there will be an intimate listening party for Mission of Burma's new album, 'The Obliterati', on Tuesday night, May 16th at the Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA. DJ sets will be provided by members of the band and DJ Carbo and we'll be screening the live bonus DVD, as well.

The Enormous Room is located at 567 Mass. Ave in Cambridge.
The event is free to the public, but it is +21.
Festivities begin at 9PM.

If you're not in or around the Boston area, don't fret - there are additional listening events planned in cities across the country.

Any and all future updates will be posted right here and on our MySpace.

The first single from 'The Obliterati', "2wice" is now available from the iTunes Music Store. It includes Roger's aptly titled, non-album b-side "(Invisible)".

In case you weren't already aware, there will be a limited-edition bonus DVD with the first batch of 'The Obliterati'. Said DVD will feature a high-definition, multi-camera shoot of the band performing at the Tsongas Arena in November 2004. Songs include "The Setup", "Wounded World", "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" and "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate". The sound is superb, in stereo 2.0 and surround 5.1 mixes (selectable) by Bob Weston.

A couple of sites have run rather interesting bits on Burma lately. We recommend checking these out:

Billboard has an interview with Roger regarding the upcoming album, the obliterati.net and the NOT A PHOTOGRAPH documentary.

Marathonpacks posted a fun read regarding the Summer ode 'Donna Sumeria' from the album. Check it out here.

Dave Morris over at the Toronto Eye Weekly recently named '2wice' MP3 of the week, in his 'Totally Wired' column. Take a look here.

And Drowned in Sound were kind enough to add a piece covering all things fresh and new in the Burmal world, as well. Take a gander.

We just wanted to remind all of you that NOT A PHOTOGRAPH:The Mission of Burma Story will be premiering on Saturday, April 22nd, as part of the Independent Film Festival of Boston.

The screening is scheduled for 9pm at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square (Somerville, MA).

For information about tickets & about other films in this year's IFFBoston lineup, please visit their website at www.iffboston.org

Andre from Garagem was kind enough to forward the following regarding video of Burma's recent appearance at the Campari Rock Festival in Brazil.

"We have been showing part of your show on our webshow. Please go (here).
Click on "Garagem 125 - Alta 128k", click on it, and youll see the show. Forward it about 10 minutes, and youll see 3 MoBurma tracks".

The video is utterly stunning. Tracks included are 'Absent Mind', 'Wounded World' and, by request, 'Dumbells'. Check it out.

Roger took the time to sit down and write a blog the likes of which we've never seen before. Encapsulating the entire Brazilian experience, it's a great read - and there are some rather pretty pictures, as well - you can find it over at our MySpace page.

Ever had the urge to quit the drudgery of your day job and take up the care free life of oh, say, a music historian or journalist? Have those of you that might actually already be one of the two ever wrung your hands in frustration at the moral and ethical dilemmas that force you to waste all of that time with fact-checking and prevent you from making history much more interesting? Well, we might just have the solution.

In anticipation of Mission of Burma's new album, 'The Obliterati', the folks at Matador have launched a new site at www.obliterati.net, which features not only a streaming music player, but a comprehensive biography of the band equipped with a TikiWiki editing tool, as well. Not only can you sample tracks from the new album, but, as part of a community, you can take the opportunity to collaborate on what could shape up to be the definitive history of the band (apologies to Mr. Azerrad), while you do it. Lead off single '2wice' is already streaming on the player, and a new song will be available every three days at midnightand we swear there won't be any delays this time.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a TikiWiki, have no fear. Obliterati.net comes equipped with very clear and simple instructions that will get you involved in no time. If you're already familiar, please feel free to join the fray and add or edit away. It's a novel idea, re-writing history while embracing the future. Come check it out.

We're very pleased to announce that Burma's first foray into Brazil went exceptionally well. Today at 2PM EST, you can go ahead take a look at the proof for yourself, as a video highlight reel of sorts will be streaming on-line featuring 3 songs and an interview with Roger.

The website hosting the stream can be found at www.garagem.net, but we may recommend 'Googling' the address and making use of the translation toolbars.

We don't know how we didn't catch this until now, but David from Pitchfork recently posted an incredibly charming review of '2wice', which is the leadoff track from Burma's forthcoming album, 'The Obliterati'!

Check it out here!