Listen: Mission of Burma's "Second Television"

As previously noted, Mission of Burma will release their fifth studio album Unsound on July 10. You can listen to their latest single "Second Television," a song they've been playing for the past year or so, below.



Don't forget that MoB plays Prospect Park, a free show, on August 3.

Wild Flag and Mission of Burma Playing Celebrate Brooklyn! 8/3

Wild Flag @ Maxwell's October 2011

Mission of Burma @ MHoW January 2012

Sometimes, on very rare occasions, all of the planets and moons and stars align to bring us something truly magical. This summer, it's comin' atcha in the form of an amazing double bill at the Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Bandshell on August 3rd!!

FOR FREE.

FN obsessions Wild Flag and Mission of Burma will be melting your collective faces for one epic night of music mayhem, in what will now be known as the Perfect Storm of Rock.

Oh, and did we mention that this show is free? Be sure to check out the rest of Celebrate Brooklyn's lineup ova here - with appearances by Ghostface Killah, Laurie Anderson and, um, Lyle Lovett, there is literally something for everyone.

Yes, it's all happening.

Mission of Burma reveal Unsound album art and track listing

As previously reported, Mission of Burma will release their fifth studio album Unsound on July 10 on Fire Records. You can probably imagine we're pretty excited about it. Once again recorded by Bob Weston, many of the tracks that make up the new album are songs we've seen them play at their last few shows, including "Dust Devil" which was revealed last month. But also “Sectionals In Mourning," “This Is Hi-Fi," “Second Television," “7′s," and "Opener," which should make for one fine follow up to 2009's The Sound, The Speed, The Light.

No NYC-area shows have been announced yet, but I would not be surprised if the band plays in the area this summer. Below, take a look at the track list and give "Dust Devil" another listen...

FN News Roundup: March 26, 2012

Mission of Burma @ MHOW, 1/19/2012

Hoooooly crap a LOT of great things happened today. Let's get to it.

• FN heroes Mission of Burma will continue rocking our faces off with their new LP Unsound, which will drop on July 9 via their new label Fire Records. Check out leadoff track "Dust Devil" below. Do it. We'll wait. Why are you still reading this (Pitchfork)


• In what is probably the biggest tease ever for me and every other Amurrican New Order fan, frontman Bernard Sumner has confirmed in a post-Ultra Festival interview that the legendary band will be back in the US for more shows once they've fulfilled other dates worldwide. I'll just stand here with my credit card out, Bernard (Slicing Up Eyeballs)


• NEW SIGUR ROS ALBUM (VALTARI) ON MAY 9! STREAM TITLE TRACK BELOW! IT'S COOL IF YOU TEAR UP A LITTLE (Consequence of Sound)


• New Liars album on June 5! (Mute)


• Tenacious D. 2012 Tour. Hammerstein Ballroom on June 28. Tickets on sale this Friday at 10am ET. Really no need for me to tell you how excited to get here. (BrooklynVegan)


• Stream M. Ward's new album A Wastland Companion! There's a LOT less Zooey Deschanel on this, so that's already a reason to like it (NPR)


• New(ish) Japandroids single? Yes! 2012 Tour bringing them to Bowery Ballroom on June 26 for a sweaty awesome rock show? Yes Squared. (Stereogum)


• 22 seconds of the first new Soundgarden song are available now. Juuuuuust enough to blueball SG fans until the release of The Avengers soundtrack (or, knowing the Internet, a couple weeks from now) (Rock It Out)

Mission of Burma no longer on Matador Records, sign to Fire Records

I had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen, but now I can confirm: Mission of Burma have departed Matador Records after releasing three albums with the iconic label. Matador also handled the reissues of their back catalogue, including Signals, Calls and Marches, Vs. and The Horrible Truth About Burma. The reason I suspected this would happen was due to the fact that virtually no mention of Burma has been made on the Matablog since the band hit the studio last year.

Mission of Burma will release their upcoming as-yet-untitled fifth album on Fire Records, which is tentatively set to release on July 10. And now we play the waiting game…

Photos/Review: Mission of Burma @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Mission of Burma @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - January 19, 2012
Photos & Review: Chris

There really isn’t too much to say about a Mission of Burma show in 2012 that you couldn’t say to describe any of their live performances of the past decade since their reunion in 2002. But “reunion” may not be the best word to use, as with three incredible Burma 2.0 records to their credit, I think “reemergence” is much more fitting. Their posthumous 1985 live album The Horrible Truth About Burma was a tongue-in-cheek reference to their inconsistent live show during their original incarnation, but I’d have a hard time describing an instance where I walked out of Mission of Burma show disappointed in the 20+ times I’ve seen them since 2004. It’s just never happened.

Case in point: their excellent performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, which if the reception they received was any indication, held up as one of their finer Brooklyn performances of recent memory. Playing a large portion of their still-can’t-believe-how-amazing-it-holds-up 2006 record The Obliterati, opening with “Donna Sumeria,” and eventually playing “2wice,” “Spider’s Web,” “Let Yourself Go,” “1001 Pleasant Dreams,” the band also shuffled through classics like “This Is Not A Photograph,” “That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate,” and “Mica,” --still as abrasive and punk as ever. And I think it may have been only the second time I’ve seen them whip out the incredible “Fun World.” Not to mention, unlike the last two MoB shows we’ve been to, Bob Weston was working his magic behind the board on the tape loops, providing that very unique sound that has become synonymous with Mission of Burma.

The kicker is always when they finish their encore, and the crowd refuses to leave. I’ve yet to see another band garner as much enthusiasm from a crowd for a 2nd encore as I have with Burma, but it happened once again on Thursday night—which the band jokingly begrudged the audience for not leaving. “We better get paid extra for this!” Roger Miller joked—before going into “Red” and finally, the great “Academy Fight Song.”

No, they didn’t play “Revolver,” and I must say that my favorite Burma shows are the ones when they skip it. It speaks volumes of a band’s repertoire when they can bypass their most well known song and still leave a crowd 100% satisfied. While we patiently await the forthcoming fifth Mission of Burma album (it’s happening, I swear), take a look at a full set of photos below from Thursday night, including openers The Static Jacks and EULA, as well as Burma’s setlist…

HELL YES: Mission Of Burma Playing Music Hall Of Williamsburg On 1/19

Remember that time Mission of Burma completely kicked our heads' asses at Beekman?

Permit us to freak right the fuck out. Fucking Nostalgic patron saints Mission of Burma (seriously, they're one of this site's main inspirations) are hard at work on their next album, and recently confirmed two January shows in Boston. While we'd have been more than happy to roadtrip it up there to hang out, they've done us one better by announcing a NEW YORK CITY show on January 19, one day prior to their Boston shows.

Tickets are on sale this Saturday (12/3) at noon ET, and you would be completely silly to not come to this show. 

Thanks guys, you've made our day.

iMeowww presents... Mission of Purma

Well here we are with iMeowww's latest single, "Mission of Purma" (get it?), a cover of Mission of Burma's classic track "This Is Not A Photograph." And of course, it's a weird one. Expanding on the usual palette of meows, hisses and purrs, this song comes complete with an all out cat brawl. After all, what better way to emulate Roger Miller's unique guitar solos than with the sound of cats killing each other? Take a listen below, and may god have mercy on your kitty soul...

iMeowww Presents...Mission of Purma by Debzies

Fucking Nostalgic Presents... Magic Sundae: "Plasms"

Fucking Nostalgic Presents... Magic Sundae: Episode #1 - "Plasms"
Featuring: Argon Fritz, Silver Supremacist, Damien, Chris, Red Jen, Zach, Lexi and Marissa

Just to make things clear: The hosts of Magic Sundae have been broadcasting their podcast for nearly a year, but this week's episode marks the first time the show has been recorded as the official podcast of Fucking Nostalgic. What exactly is the difference? Nothing really, apart from now we're going to start posting the episodes here every Sunday, and that we'll be referencing each other in our respective mediums a lot more. The good news is that this week's episode is just as weird and hilarious as ever, and including some great tracks by Death, Deerhunter, Mission of Burma, Real Estate, a shit load of reggae and Beck. Oh, and we also discussed how much Phil Collins sucks (hence the weird artwork for this episode below).

Take a listen below, and be sure to download it as well. We'll be posting the tracklisting for this episode next week, so hold onto your shorts until then. Enjoy, and spread the word!

Mission of Burma Announce January 2012 Boston Shows

More pics and a review of MoB's awesome Beekman Beer Garden show over here!

Longtime readers of Fucking Nostalgic know that we are HUGE fans of Mission of Burma. But to you new readers, take note: we are HUGE fans of Mission of Burma. Which is why we're psyched to share the news that the band has just confirmed a pair of shows in Boston this coming January 20 and 21 at Brighton Music Hall, their first in the city since January 2010. In the interim, they blew our minds here in NYC at Beekman Beer Garden over the summer, so we're definitely road-tripping it up to see them again.

A small number of exclusive fan presale tickets will be available starting tomorrow (11/2) at 10am ET. They've been in the studio for the past few months working on their new album, and you can check out photos on how that's going over here.

Check out this video from their Beekman show and get psyched. If you squint, you can probably see us losing it in the audience.

Photos: Mission of Burma @ Beekman Beer Garden

Mission of Burma @ Beekman Beer Garden - August 7, 2011

What's to be said about Mission of Burma that I haven't already said? Not much. Except that even on one of the hottest, most humid days this summer, the trio still brought an incredible performance to the Beekman Beer Garden yesterday leaving a sweat-drenched crowd wanting more even after two ear-splitting encores. Not to say I wasn't expecting as much, but their setlist at this particular show reminded me of how seamlessly their newer material has blended into the overall Burma canon, never once sounding out of place or irrelevant.

Case in point: After opening with the excellent new song "Second Television," (which I heard them play at Space Gallery in Portland, ME a few months ago), Burma dove straight into crowd-pleaser "This Is Not A Photograph" without a second's hesitation. With Clint Conley's fuzzed-out bass, Roger Miller's incomparable slide guitar techniques, and Pete Prescott's drill-sergeant screams from behind the kit, Mission of Burma never cease to shock me with just how fucking good they are live. Up next was a trio of songs off of 2009's The Sound The Speed The Light, "Comes Undone," "Good Cheer" and "1, 2, 3 Partyy!!" before digging deep into 1982's Vs. by playing "Dead Pool," a song I don't think I've heard played live apart from the time they played Vs. start-to-finish. You get the idea. This band could pull out a song that didn't even make the cut to The Horrible Truth About Burma and it would still be amazing.

Though tape-looper Bob Weston (aka the man who has either engineered or produced every great indie record in the past twenty years) was not at the show, the band showed no signs of loss. Shuffling through tracks off of The Obliterati ("2wice" and "Spider's Web") and material off of their upcoming fifth album, Burma ended their initial set with a trio of older songs, playing "Mica," "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate," and ending with "Red." But as is usually the case with Burma, their encore was what really made the show phenomenal. After ending "1001 Pleasant Dreams," Conley went immediately into "Peking Spring," which of course sounded as crunchy and energetic as ever. My only concern was that the song has a very finite ending and not exactly something you can follow up with right away.

They did leave the stage at this point, but it was obvious that not a single person was going anywhere, forcing the band to return for yet another encore. Roger Miller cursed us all for forcing them to play in such horrible humidity, but Clint reassured us that they had prepared a "set" for us. Playing the opening chords to "The Ballad of Johnny Burma," (a.k.a. my favorite Mission of Burma song... ever), I pretty much lost my shit, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Another song I've only seen them play live once before, it was quite the treat, and following it up with the anthemic "Academy Fight Song" only made it one of the most memorable days of the summer.

The Labor Pool, a band that has some seriously great songs, opened the show while the crowd began shuffling in. I wish I could find more information about them, but in the meantime check out their bandcamp page and be on the lookout for any future shows. Below, check out a full set of photos of both bands, as well as Mission of Burma's complete setlist...

Interview: Clint Conley (Mission of Burma, Consonant)

Clint Conley with Mission of Burma at Maxwell's. More here.

"What happens when the most influential band you never heard reunites after 19 years?"

That's the question the excellent documentary Not A Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story asked five years ago in 2006. It's safe to say we now know the answer to that question. Since reforming, Boston's Mission of Burma have released ONoffON (2004), The Obliterati (2006), and The Sound, The Speed, The Light (2009)--all to critical acclaim--paving the way for bands like Polvo, The Feelies and Dinosaur Jr. to make similar comebacks. All the while proving that reunions, and more specifically reunion albums, do not have to be embarrassing cash-ins.

Roger Miller (guitars/vocals), Pete Prescott (drums/vocals), Bob Weston (tape loops/producer) and Clint Conley (bass/vocals) make up one of the greatest success stories in the world of independent music. Fans in New York City will have the chance to catch Mission of Burma for FREE at the Beekman Beer Garden on August 7. As the band prepares for their upcoming fifth full length album, I had the chance to catch up with Clint on the phone to discuss the progress they've made so far on the new record, the status of his other band Consonant, and what it's like envisioning an end to Mission of Burma.

---

So I know you guys are working on, or have at least begun working on the new Mission of Burma album. What’s the progress so far?

Basically we’ve laid basic tracks down and a few overdubs. Roger has a very busy year this year with Alloy [Orchestra] due in part to the release of a new version of Metropolis. Which has been in high demand at festivals and what not, so they have the good fortune of being in great demand these days. So anyhow, Roger’s more or less booked up through December with Alloy stuff . And you know, we were pretty up to speed with some of these new songs so we thought we’d better get in the studio and capture them while we're semi-confident. So we did that and that’s where it stands right now. It was a pretty simple recording, Weston came out and we spent three of four days, maybe more…

That’s what I wanted to ask you, if Bob was producing this one too.

Yeah, he was at the board. We’ve done overdubs—on our last record—at this studio where we rehearse, which is a combination of a recording studio and a rehearsal space. So we just decided to lay the basics down there and see how that sounded, so you know... it sounds great.

I wanted to ask you about Bob’s tape looping actually. In the studio is it done kind of on the fly like he does it live or is it a little more musically calculated?

It’s a post-production effect. I mean, he’s not doing it while we’re laying the basics. It’s something that’s after the fact. But that’s a good question because I mean, certainly live it’s all on the fly as we’re going. And as far as I know we’ve never done it that way [in the studio]. Basically because he has his hands full with all the other crap. You know, he’s trying to make sure that everything’s right. He can’t be paying attention to things to too many things at once… he’s already overloaded.

Swirlies playing Beekman Beer Garden this Sunday, George Clinton on Wednesday

Last month we announced a series of free Sunday shows at the recently opened Beekman Beer Garden, which is located at the South Street Seaport. So far the festival, dubbed the Beach Party Music Series, has featured Cheeseburger, Xray Eyeballs, Frankie Rose, Woven Bones and a Davila 666 DJ Set. But clearly they are saving the really great shows for last. This Sunday, Boston band The Swirlies will bring their drowned-out shoegaze sound to the Seaport, with Psychedelic Horseshit opening. With that lineup, you’ll definitely want to bring the earplugs.

Doors for all shows open at 11:30am, with the show starting at 3pm, and it is unfortunately 21 and over (it is a beer garden, after all). I got to check out the venue after the free Ted Leo show a couple weeks ago, and it’s definitely a great place to hang out with an amazing view, so it won’t kill you to get there early and chill (or bake) for a bit. Next Sunday brings Danish neo-shoegaze act The Raveonettes (one of my more current favorites) on July 31, but the really killer show in this series will be my all-time favorite band, Mission of Burma (a.k.a. the greatest band on planet Earth) on August 7. Pretty excited about that one. Who knows, we may even be celebrating with an exclusive feature on the band soon…

And now onto the other great (but not free) show at Beekman: The legendary George Clinton & the Parliament Funkadelic will play the venue on Wednesday, July 27 at 7pm (doors are at 5pm). Tickets are still on sale. While we’re on the subject, remember that ridiculous scene in the not-as-great-as-you-remember-it film PCU where P-Funk’s tour bus breaks down and George Clinton decides, “yeah, we’ll play a frat party for no other reason other than to make a mockery of every band that plays frat parties.” Okay, he didn’t say that, but it was still pretty stupid. Forget that though, because George Clinton is awesome and is sure to put on a great show on Wednesday. Oh yeah, and Maggot Brain is still one of my favorite records of all time.

It goes without saying we have our next few Sundays planned, and we hope to see you there as well! Below, check out some posters for the shows, as well as a video of P-Funk in PCU playing Prince's "Erotic City"...

Mission of Burma, Swirlies, Raveonettes playing free shows this summer

Mission of Burma @ SPACE Gallery in May (more here)

Well, this just made my day. If you were upset at all about there not being any free Pool Parties this summer, it appears that a worthy substitute is in place. The “Beach Party Music Series,” which also appears to be dubbed the Seaport Music Festival will take place from July 10th-August 14th every Sunday at the Beekman Beer Garden, which is located at Northside Pier 17 in Manhattan. And not only that, but Mission of Burma (aka the Greatest Band On The Planet) will be headlining the August 7th date! Admission is 100% free, and doors will open at 11:30am, plenty of time to enjoy the summer air and watch one amazing show from the legendary Boston band.

Other bands playing will be the Raveonettes, Swirlies, the Babies, Cheesburger, Frankie and the Outs and many more. Check out the Seaport Music Festival website for more details and see the full lineup below…

July 16 Cheeseburger
July 17 Xray Eyeballs w/ Frankie & the Outs, and the Babies
July 24 Swirlies w/ Psychedelic Horseshit
July 31 The Raveonettes w/ Eternal Summers
August 7 Mission of Burma
August 14 TBA

Can’t wait.

Watch: Mission of Burma performing "Einstein's Day"

This past Memorial Day weekend, I got to see and photograph Mission of Burma in Portland, Maine. It was an unforgettable experience. During the one song that I could actually contain myself from moving around too much, I whipped out my Canon point-and-shoot camera and shot the band performing an incredible version of "Einstein's Day" off of their album Vs. Of course, I'm an idiot and left my camera in the car that my brother and I borrowed from our parents, so I didn't get to post this video with the original photos and review. But anyway, the performance is pretty amazing, and now you have the chance to see for yourself above.

Photos: Mission of Burma @ Space Gallery (Portland, ME)

Mission of Burma @ Space Gallery, May 28th, 2011

It goes without saying that I'm a Mission of Burma superfan. Ever since randomly stumbling upon the band's phenomenal performance at the 2004 Siren Music Festival in Coney Island, I've caught MoB live every chance I've gotten. They are easily the one band I've seen live more than any other out there and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. So when I heard they were playing a somewhat reasonable five hour drive away (reasonable for an obsessive Burma fan I suppose), my brother and I plotted our trip to Portland, Maine for an epic Mission of Burma Memorial Day trip. And of course, it was totally worth it.

The venue itself was perfectly fitting for the band. The Space Gallery is a nonprofit art gallery and performance space located in Portland's art district, probably didn't hold more than 300 people, and sounded wonderful. While getting a drink at the bar before the opener went on, I spotted Eric M. Van, who you may know from the excellent Mission of Burma documentary This Is Not A Photograph. Van is not only a Burma superfan like myself, but a legitimate Burma historian. Surprisingly, he informed us that Bob Weston would not be on tape loops for the night, and he wasn't for their show two nights prior in Rhode Island either, but assured me the trio had figured out ways to mimic Weston's unique contributions. Another piece of information Van passed along was that the band was planning to enter the studio in June to begin work on their fifth full-length album (their fourth since reuniting in 2002). This news filled me with a sense of great joy that could only be topped by having Mission of Burma rock my face off yet again. And that's exactly what happened nearly an hour later.

Our Band Could Be Your Life tickets released

The extremely coveted, extremely important, and extremely fascinating book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. In tribute, Tiger Mountain Presents will be putting on a tribute show to the Michael Azerrad-penned book this Sunday, May 22nd at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets were previously sold out but it appears as though some more have been released, so grab one while you still can. Below is the list of performers and the band they will be paying tribute to. It will be exciting to see these more contemporary acts take on some of my favorite bands ever. Special guests are to be expected…

Nat Baldwin, David Longstreth and Brian McOmber performing Black Flag
Delicate Steve performing the Minutemen
Citay performing Mission of Burma
Ted Leo performing Minor Threat
Grooms performing Husker Du
Titus Andronicus performing the Replacements
callers performing Sonic Youth
Dan Deacon performing the Butthole Surfers
St. Vincent performing Big Black
Wye Oak performing Dinosaur Jr
Buke & Gass performing Fugazi
White Hills performing Mudhoney
Yellow Ostrich performing Beat Happening

Very Special Guests Janeane Garofalo and Eugene Mirman will host the event.

Mixtape: Fucking Nostalgic #2 (Fairytale in the Supermarket)

Yesterday was Record Store Day. Unfortunately it fell on the day after my birthday so sleep was necessary. Meaning I missed all the good exclusive stuff. Still picked up some records though, all of which are included in this mix.

Fairytale in the Supermarket - the Raincoats

Rory Rides Me Raw - the Vaselines

Disorder - Joy Division

The Biggest Lie - Hüsker Dü

Dead Love - Mudhoney

Life is Shit - the Dead Milkmen

The Sprawl - Sonic Youth

Toadies/Retreat - the Minutemen

All World Cowboy Romance - Mission of Burma

Available to stream or download below...

Fucking Nostalgic #2 (Fairytale in the Supermarket) by csgersbeck

Mixtape: Fucking Nostalgic #1 (Schizophrenia)

The first of many. This mix includes:

Schizophrenia - Sonic Youth
Learn How - Mission of Burma
Supertouch/Shitfit - Bad Brains
Mannequin - Wire
Fast Canoe - Polvo
Cupid Come - My Bloody Valentine
I've Been Tired - Pixies
Kennel District - Pavement
Franz Schubert/Endless Endless - Kraftwerk

Available to stream below or download. All from vinyl (though I doubt I can keep that up). Enjoy!

Fucking Nostalgic #1 (Schizophrenia) by csgersbeck

Welcome

Hello -

I fervently follow and admire new music, yet when a veteran band like Mission of Burma releases a new album, I can't help but admit that it blows 99% of what I listen to out of the water. Hence "Fucking Nostalgic." Because I'll always be fucking nostalgic about what shaped my musical tastes, and I'm sure many avid music listeners will say the same. There is a stigma attached to "reunion" tours that they are about nothing but cashing in. But as Polvo, Mudhoney, Wire and Dinosaur Jr. have taught me, truly innovative and original bands cease to hang up their creativity with age.

Stay tuned for live concert photos/reviews, interviews, weekly vinyl mixtapes, essays, and in depth album reviews from music's past.

J Mascis @ Swan Dive (BrooklynVegan SXSW Day Party) 3/19/11. More here.