Mission O' Burma Vs' The World

In High School I tried to listen to any music I could.  It was a way to ignore the teasing and bullying and also the negative space at home. Some day's were good and others not so much.  I would try to fit in with what my classmates liked, but they really did not like anything good to be honest.  It was hair Metal or pop music or just plain crap.  Some people I hung with liked the Modern Rock and some liked the Classic Rock.  That is where I gravitated to and stayed for the most part.  I was happy being in the middle of both mediums.  I worked at the local library and that is where I began to explore more and more.  I would hear a friend talk about a band and then go to the library to see if we had it in our collection.  I would ask a friend at reference.  That friend knew a lot about music.  He lived a decade or so earlier then I did and he knew what was cool and what was lame.

This co-worker gave me advice and also what cool radio stations played the cool music.  He always told me that the left of the dial was the best.  It had public radio stations and college radio stations.  Each of these types of stations knew what was hip.  When I listened it sounded amateurish, but a joy to listen to.  One station prided itself on saying it had all those Classic Rock albums and artists, but they just don't play them.  They wanted me to turn up their station louder because it prided in playing the loud and the super cool.

One band that stood out was band called Mission of Burma.  I heard one song and was like wow!! and I had to tell my co-worker.  He remembered that one Saturday when we took our lunch break.  We took his car.  He had a bunch of cassettes in his car and all over the floor on the passenger side.  He pointed out the Mission of Burma tape by my foot.  "I think you heard them on one of the stations that I told you about," he said. I was impressed that he knew the station that I listened to played it and also that I liked it.  The tape was full of music.  There was twenty four songs total and it was a full eighty minutes long.  He pointed out that this was all their recorded stuff at the time.  Even more impressed they could put that much out in such a short period of time.  He pointed out their was a live album called The Horrible Truth About Burma, but in no way does it match the raw power of the studio versions.  The tape in my hand had the one and only EP from Mission of Burma and the album Vs' and a few extra tracks.  At the time the tape and CD came out their music was largely out of print and hard to find.

If I could make a copy of the cassette then it had all the Mission of Burma I needed to hear.  I took the cassette home and made myself a copy.  I gave it back, and told my co-worker that this is going to be the most played tape in my collection.  I was serious too, I loved this and I thanked my co-worker for turning me on to not only Mission of Burma, but the curious music that was on the left of the dial.  It was Mission of Burma, that got me into Fugazi, Black Flag, Husker Du and countless others.  What was more of interest was that Mission of Burma did it all in one album and one EP.  Amazing.

When I was following this band they were broken up.  They were doing other projects.  I was hoping to see this band and see all this energy on stage.  It took forever but in 2004 it happen.  Lightening did not strike once but twice that year.  I had a friend come up to me and tell me the Pixies were playing. I got excited that I have not seen them since 1991.  He was a big fan and I was as well so we decided to go.  What my friend did not tell me is one of the opening bands.  It was Mission of Burma.  I could not hold my excitement.  It was bubbling over.  Mission of Burma getting back together. This means touring, seeing them more and maybe something as far as new music.  A band that influenced so many with so little as far as material.

So in 1982 a little band from Massachusetts with a huge influence made an album called Vs.. An album that made my head spin at first listen.  It made a lot of people's head spin and had a huge influence of many other artists.  It's power and ambition shakes the music world pretty hard.  I love it's take no shit feel and makes the listener feel a bit on edge.  I love the fact that with three band members and a man who used tape manipulation make an album of dissident and distorted high octane Post-Punk with an edge.  A band who made Fugazi, Nirvana and R.E.M think about how they created their music.  Before you mention a song by Moby that he made popular, just stop.  It was Mission of Burma who made it.  It was Mission who but a bug in many peoples ear.  Mission of Burma is a band I can say proudly that they are one of my favorites for all time.  Crank it up and hear the raw energy of Burma.