Mission of Burma - The Obliterati

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so...a new record for those guys.
any good?
i've listened to it for just a little and it sounds like more of the same, only with a Steve Albini style production (by Bob Weston,no surprise...).
but time will tell...

― emekars (emekars), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 00:27 (twenty years ago)

http://www.obliterati.net/

you can listen to the album streaming here..

― emekars (emekars), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 00:37 (twenty years ago)

i signed up for the subscription series. a few tracks are awesome -- all of clint's tunes rule, while it's slightly diminishing returns for me with roger's songs, and then peter's in that order.

m.o.b. remains one of the only bands to have successfully "reunioned" -- they're the exception proving the rule.

― Mike McG, Wednesday, 26 April 2006 00:48 (twenty years ago)

ummm... wire?

― davelus (davelus), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 01:32 (twenty years ago)

or perhaps you did say 'one of'... must work on reading skills

― davelus (davelus), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 01:34 (twenty years ago)

so far, i love it. not sure if i love it more than "onOFFon", but i'll have to let it sit for a few more days. i have nothing but respect for a band that can pick up where they left off 20 years after they broke up, and still sound incredibly tight and write intelligent, exciting songs.

― Emily B (Emily B), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 03:14 (twenty years ago)

Great album - extremely consistent throughout. "Spider's Web", "Careening With Conviction" and "1001 Pleasant Dreams" are especially great.

― Simon H. (Simon H.), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 04:21 (twenty years ago)

It was good, but I found it getting kind of boring towards the end at first listen. But, I'll give it another shot. Vs. is one of my favorite albums.

― Harrison Barr (Petar), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 20:26 (twenty years ago)

Man you people are picky. It's my favorite album of the year so far. I liked OnOffOn but this is far better. "Nancy Reagan's Head" is worth the price of admission alone. Clint sounds a lot better on this record, too. My only complaint is no anthems like "Academy Fight Song" or "That's When I Reach for My Revolver", but I didn't expect any.

― Matt Berlyant, Friday, 28 April 2006 17:58 (twenty years ago)

I will be downloading this. (and buying it if it's good)

MoB are definitely one of few bands that have blown me away on their reunion tours.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 28 April 2006 19:27 (twenty years ago)

Rapeman+NOMEANONO+New wave ideas:great production, great playing, not all the songs are well-written though.
not even (the Butthole Surefers tribute track is a failure for example), but better than "onoffon", and great for the most tracks.

― should i buy, Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:07 (twenty years ago)

when does this release?

i'm so excited. mission of burma is my most favorite band ever.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:24 (twenty years ago)

You lie, it is Queensryche.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:25 (twenty years ago)

when does this release?

may 23

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:43 (twenty years ago)

"Spider's Web" is such a great song. I can't get past it.

― Harpal (harpal), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

I wish the vocals were just a tiny bit louder.

― Harpal (harpal), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 19:07 (twenty years ago)

three weeks pass...

surprise surprise, but it gets very good reviews, for a sort of record that sounds nice enough, but really, nothing new or surprising.except the reviews.

― coco the kid, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 17:36 (twenty years ago)

i haven't heard it yet, but the album title is pretty bad. 'the obliterati'? come on, you got to work harder than that. Almost as bad as 'onoffon'. esp. considering their mk 1 stuff had such good titles.

― Ben H (Ben H), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 18:54 (twenty years ago)

I actually like the title, but the cover art is atrocious.

― Simon H. (Simon H.), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 19:51 (twenty years ago)

It still beats Boston:

http://www.freealbumart.org/images/Corporate_America.jpg

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 19:54 (twenty years ago)

yup, after repeated listens i like it more than "onoffon". excellent album.

― Emily B (Emily B), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 21:48 (twenty years ago)

two weeks ago -- hmm, i see there's a new MoB disc coming out. the last one's okay but i don't wanna buy this one, maybe matador will send a promo
last week -- here's the MoB disc, okay
a few days ago -- say, this is really, really good, betterthan onoffon for sure, i can't stop playing it
this morning -- this is the BEST FRICKIN' ROCK RECORD I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR TOP TEN FUR SHURE

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

Musician/critic Franklin Bruno went nuts for it in Time Out NY. Hmmm, I've been a bit apprehensive about it, but maybe you glass is full types have convinced me to get it.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:56 (twenty years ago)

this record is fucking awesome, especially its second half - I liked the last one pretty well, but this is better by a wide margin. as Raymond observes it gets better every time you play it, too.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 12:17 (twenty years ago)

If you're still unsure (sheesh), the 8 tracks on the wiki are, last I checked, still around.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 12:35 (twenty years ago)

Those 8 tracks alone are better than all of onoffon.

― righteousmaelstrom (righteousmaelstrom), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 13:45 (twenty years ago)

Rapeman+NOMEANONO+New wave ideas

This got me excited so I went to the wiki and it sounded great and loud but goddamn those dudes just cannot sing to save their lives. Vocals are a rock instrument too, y'all. If only they sung a bit more like the Wright brothers.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:21 (twenty years ago)

YOU ARE CRAZY! CONNELY HAS A GREAT VOICE! SO DOES MILLER!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:23 (twenty years ago)

A great voice for a dude who's not trying very hard to sing, sure.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:31 (twenty years ago)

Well, less "sure" and more "maybe."

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:32 (twenty years ago)

They've always sounded like that. There's no difference in vocal quality between 'Vs.' and this.

― righteousmaelstrom (righteousmaelstrom), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:41 (twenty years ago)

Agreed. I just saw the nomeansno and rapeman things and hoped something had changed. As you say, it hadn't.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:43 (twenty years ago)

nomeansno and rapeman have "singing"? the vox are the only thing that sometimes make me cringe abt. nomeansno.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 14:49 (twenty years ago)

See, I really like 'em. I like Albini's vocals too. They just seem more rock, somehow. I recognize I am swimming against the tide a bit here, but I've just never gotten MoB in execution. (In theory, sure.)

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 15:00 (twenty years ago)

Got it yesterday, I'm through the first five songs. Sounds pretty goddamn great so far--like it was recorded in a basement full of hard surfaces or something. Very muscular, instruments and singing have a great up-front presence. I just can't tell if it's all going to blur together or not. Either way, I absolutely love these guys.

― Sean Braud1s (Sean Braudis), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:01 (twenty years ago)

i like albini's vox a lot! (nomeansno vox can kinda drive me nuts), but yr whole problem seemed to be that MoB "can't sing" which is like how many bands of that era COULD sing (in proper singing terms)...i guess you just like the way albini can't sing better than the way roger miller can't sing, which is purely a matter of taste.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:20 (twenty years ago)

I guess maybe "sing" is the wrong word--how about "vocalize"? I just don't hear a lot of character there, and they don't seem to be adding a lot to the music by making noises with their mouths over it.

Of course this particular quality bugs me about a lot of music from that era--it seemed to be either VERY distinctive non-singing or VERY non-distinctive singing. I think MoB falls pretty squarely in the latter category, but clearly lotsa folks disagree.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:31 (twenty years ago)

Miller does genuinely seem to be trying to be tonal though, at least to my ears.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:32 (twenty years ago)

yeah. the album is greatly played and produced, but the vocals are ruining in a way, though low in the mix.

― coco the kid, Thursday, 25 May 2006 10:48 (twenty years ago)

The Obliterati is rocking my socks off. It must be played at maximum volume to appreciate. A definite improvement on OnOffOn.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Saturday, 3 June 2006 01:57 (twenty years ago)

amazed that this only gets 39 repies on ILM

nancy reagan's glowering head just kills everything else

― nikki weber (nikudnik), Saturday, 3 June 2006 20:09 (twenty years ago)

This album really, really grew on me and I think it's fantastic. In my top 5 of the year at the moment. I got the 8 subscriber 12 inches from this album in the mail recently. Cool etchings on the b-sides, but i should've probably just gotten the album instead, which i will do soon.

― Harpal (harpal), Sunday, 4 June 2006 04:04 (twenty years ago)

yep, this is wearing really well with me! great album overall....the end part of Sumeria is such great punk psych tape edit trickery kudos bob weston you've channeled the swope....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 14:51 (twenty years ago)

Picked up the LP today and it sounds fantastic. I love this album.

― Harpal (harpal), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 03:38 (twenty years ago)

Believe it -- this thread will be like 250 posts long by summer's end.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 10:51 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Thank you Mission of Burma for great (and long) show in brooklyn.
Thanks for the "Interstelar Override" cover and Thanks to Major srars who opened and were terrific as well.

― emekars (emekars), Monday, 17 July 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

Review of their Washington DC show:

Mission of Burma at the Black Cat Mon. 7-17-06 Washington Post

Mission of Burma has everything it needs to be the loudest band in the world -- except the volume. Saturday night at the Black Cat, the Boston quartet unleashed sheets of guitar din atop a walloping rhythm section, an attack further gnarled by live sound manipulation. Yet rather than turn it all up to 11, the group kept the level around 6.

That was no oversight. Burma's 1983 split came after singer-guitarist Roger Miller was diagnosed with severe tinnitus. Since realigning in 2002, the band has been careful to spare Miller's ears. It plays infrequently, positions speakers carefully and screens singer-drummer Peter Prescott's kit with a plexiglass shield. Such precautions could lead to timidity, but not in Burma's case. In a 90-minute performance divided into two sets and two pairs of encores, the band never gave any sign of holding itself back.

The music was perhaps even rougher than intended in places, as Burma struggled a bit to perform material from its newest and most eclectic album, "The Obliterati." Such songs as the opening "Donna Sumeria," with its disco asides, lost some of their definition as Miller concentrated on buzzing guitar. But then Burma's best-loved '80s songs, notably "Academy Fight Song" and "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," are near-shapeless ravers that coalesce thrillingly when singer-bassist Clint Conley reaches the choruses. That's just what happened at the Black Cat, where Burma proved that it could still shift from chaos to cohesion, both on the old songs and on such new ones as "Nancy Reagan's Head." If the sound wasn't deafening, it was still overwhelming.

-- Mark Jenkins

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 17 July 2006 12:17 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, wow, short thread.

a few days ago -- say, this is really, really good, betterthan onoffon for sure, i can't stop playing it
this morning -- this is the BEST FRICKIN' ROCK RECORD I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR TOP TEN FUR SHURE
-- Raymond Cummings (gracefulas...), May 24th, 2006.

OTM, this disc is really holding up well for me. I'm still playing it regularly (since I bought it on release date.)

I almost went to the show mentioned above, but we skipped out last minute.
Roger Miller was diagnosed with severe tinnitus
aich, that sounds excrutiating to perform with.

― mox twelve (Mox twleve), Monday, 17 July 2006 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

*excruciating

― mox twelve (Mox twleve), Monday, 17 July 2006 14:17 (nineteen years ago)

Hands down my favorite record of the year so far. It's so exhilarating, in the way all good rock music should be.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Monday, 17 July 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

The encored with "Astronomy Domine" in Boston last week. Hotness.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Monday, 17 July 2006 14:44 (nineteen years ago)

The encored with "Astronomy Domine" in Boston last week. Hotness.

fuck! that sounds amazing! i wish they were hitting mpls on this tour...

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 17 July 2006 15:04 (nineteen years ago)

I am breathless with excitement about MoB playing in my very own town on Sept. 17th. Just thinking about them covering "Interstellar Overdrive" or "Astronomy Domine" makes me light headed.

― sleeve (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

Miller also told the audience in Boston, and his band -- as Conley said it was news to him, that the tune "Fame And Fortune" was written about Syd Barrett.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Monday, 17 July 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

"Thanks for the "Interstelar Override" cover "

mistake...sorry ...it was "Astronomy domine"..

― emekars (emekars), Monday, 17 July 2006 16:37 (nineteen years ago)

Here's a show from '04. No Floyd, from the looks of things.

http://www.archive.org/details/mob2004-10-16.flac16

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Monday, 17 July 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

tis my album of the year so far.

― jeremiah (jeremiah), Monday, 17 July 2006 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

To sprinkle on the parade a bit, I had my iPod on shuffle to hear my totally new music with fresh ears, and every time MoB came on - and before I looked at the screen - I would think, "Who is this modern rock band with the disjointed (bass-heavy) mix with a singer that sounds like Robert Pollard?"

I like "2wice", but I was not impressed.

― regular roundups (Dave M), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 04:04 (nineteen years ago)

Did anyone actually get a copy of the bonus DVD that Amazon and Play (amongst others) were advertising?

Did this ever actually exist at all?

I've currently got four copies of the CD, because every time I e-mailed Play complaining that the copy of the CD that they'd just sent me didn't contain the advertised bonus DVD, they responded by sending me another copy of the CD....

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

yes the dvd exists and yes you were too slow, sorry.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:54 (nineteen years ago)

Did anyone actually get a copy of the bonus DVD that Amazon and Play (amongst others) were advertising?

yup...I got it...4 live tracks, pretty good footage...i got it at a local indie store day after it was released.

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

I got it. I was curious as to why the audience seems dead in the video clips, then a friend reminded me this was a date on which Burma was supporting one of the first Pixies reunion shows, and a lot of people in the audience were probably not big Burma fans.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 13:59 (nineteen years ago)

two months pass...

show tonight! I am floating out of the house RIGHT NOW after a ridiculously blissful vacation weekend. 50 Foot Wave is opening.

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Monday, 18 September 2006 02:37 (nineteen years ago)

i'm jealous! have fun.

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 18 September 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

Portland gig was fantastico. Still playing two sets, still BRINGING IT. Highlight: "Donna Sumeria"!

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 18 September 2006 18:22 (nineteen years ago)

Donna Sumeria is the jam!

Mission of Burma should write more songs that sound like Arcwelder!!!

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 18 September 2006 18:25 (nineteen years ago)

is that the "thousand and one pleasant dreams" song? That was quite impressive. Still not totally familiar with the new album.

Thay played "Secrets" and "Dead Pool"! Both songs they didn't play last time, and two of my favorites. The new stuff sounded great, too.

Miller only went off on one massive solo... also they didn't play "Set Up" this time. Still a good time although I was quite tired by the time they finished at midnight.

Also, Martin Swope >>> Rob Weston.

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Monday, 18 September 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

his name is bob and that's not the only thing you got wrong.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 18 September 2006 22:06 (nineteen years ago)

my Shellac singles say "Robt. Weston IV", guess I'm a bit behind.

and the dude had two settings on his tape loop device: Unnecessarily Obtrusive and Inaudible. IMO the band is better off without him.

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

bob is short for robert, dude. nobody calls him robert.

and obv. i wasn't at that show but i'd say based on past experience you weren't listening closely.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 02:23 (nineteen years ago)

you might be right. I did have earplugs in.

― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 02:42 (nineteen years ago)

man i love this album. shellac-esque booming bass and drums to knock your socks off. catchy songs! great

best listened on shuffle as is advocated in the sleeve :)

― Axel Normand (axelnormand), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 09:24 (nineteen years ago)

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Mission of Burma - The Obliterati - 2006