April 9, 2010 Playlist

Mission of Burma live at High Noon Saloon April 9, 2010 (L to R: Prescott, Miller, Conley)
Burma!!
"The Obliterati" by Mission of Burma (2006)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Mission of Burma  "The Obliterati"  2006 (USA)
Mission of Burma plays a gig in Madison this Friday night -- their first ever in our fair city.  Founded in Boston in 1979, MOB is a band that deserves to be legendary, and amazingly enough their reputation has begun to catch up to their long, strange career.  Their music has the energy of punk rock, but is heavily influenced by the psychedelic and progressive sounds the members grew up on.  Equally importantly, the group features three singing songwriters with totally original instrumental chops (as well as an "invisible" fourth member who does funny things with the sound board;  originally Martin Swope, now Bob Weston.)  Too avant garde for punk or new wave, they broke up in obscurity in 1983 -- but over the next two decades, their pioneering style came to be seen as a seminal influence on all sorts of "indie" and "alternative" (dare I say "grunge"?) music.  When they reunited in 2002, there was no expectation that the group would remain an ongoing concern (Roger Miller told me so himself after their first reunion gig in Minneapolis!)  Yet here it is eight years later, and Mission of Burma has added three more albums to their discography, making the 21st century their most prolific period!  One of the many minor miracles of this reunion is the fact that Burma hasn't changed their sound or style at all (they even have the same haircuts they had in 1979!)  This album from 2006 (their 3rd official full-length release) equals anything the band recorded in the 1980's, and that's saying a lot!!
Here's Mission of Burma near the end of their original run, playing "Red" live in 1983 -- and looking a little bit greyer and pudgier, but sounding the same as ever on "Dirt" live in 2006   (since you're probably wondering, guitarist Roger Miller wears those headphones because he suffers from tinnitus.) And here's one of their newer tunes from this album, "Donna Sumeria" live in 2009.
 
(N) = New Release
(R) = Listener Request
   
Artist Song Album Year (label) Country
The Eleventh House featuring Larry Coryell  Level One Level One 1975 USA
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes Expansions Expansions 1975 USA
Billy Cobham Inner Conflicts Inner Conflicts 1978 USA
 
 
Mission Of Burma 2wice The Obliterati
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 2006 USA
Mission Of Burma Careening With Conviction The Obliterati
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 2006 USA
Mission of Burma SSL 83 The Sound The Speed The Light (N) 2009 (Matador) USA
Mission Of Burma Laugh The World Away Mission of Burma (Ryko compilation - "previously unreleased" outtake) rec. 1982?, rel. 1988 USA
Volcano Suns (Peter Prescott from Mission of Burma) Noodle On The Couch Thing Of Beauty 1989 USA
Sproton Layer (Roger Miller from Mission of Burma) Up With Magnetic Fields Disrupted rec. 1970, rel. 1992 USA
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic (Roger Miller & Martin Swope from Mission of Burma) Carbon 14 (live) Dawn of the Cycads (compilation) rec. 1987 USA
 
 
Turbo Fruits
 Want Some Mo' Echo Kid (N) 2009 (Fat Possum) USA
Quasi
 Bye Bye Blackbird American Gong (N) 2010 (Kill Rock Stars) USA
Pavement
 Frontwards Quarantine The Past: Greatest Hits 1989-1999 (N - compilation) 1992 (2010 Matador) USA
Gonjasufi
 Suzie Q A Sufi And A Killer (N) 2010 (Warp) USA
Jimi Hendrix
 Trash Man (bonus track) Valleys Of Neptune (Special Edition) (N - posthumous release) 2010 (Sony Legacy) USA
 
 
Pocahaunted
 UFO Make It Real (N) 2010 (Not Not Fun) USA
Blues Control Boiled Peanuts Blues Control 2007 USA
Night Control
 Window Seat Life Control (N) 2010 (Kill Shaman) USA
Liars
 Too Much, Too Much Sisterworld (N) 2010 (Mute) USA
Emeralds (R) Alive In The Sea Of Information What Happened 2009 (No Fun Productions) USA
   
 
Grateful Dead (R) St. Stephen Aoxomoxoa 1969 USA
Grateful Dead (R) Uncle John's Band Workingman's Dead 1970 USA
Bob Weir (with the rest of the Grateful Dead) (R) Cassidy Ace 1972 USA
Jefferson Airplane Mexico B-side 7" single (Early Flight comp) 1970 USA
Ramsey Kearny A Blind Man's Penis Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood And Brush (song poem anthology CD) 1976? USA
Nektar (R) The Nine Lifeless Daughters Of The Sun
   / Warp Oversight
   / The Dream Nebula		 Journey To The Centre Of The Eye 1971 UK/Germany
   
 
Scorpions Speedy's Coming Fly To The Rainbow 1974 Germany
Exmagma The First Tune Exmagma 1973 Germany
Harmonia Monza (Rauf & Runter) Deluxe 1975 Germany
Eno No One Receiving Before And After Science 1977 UK
             
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