Monday, January 28, 2008

 
Mission of Burma, 1001 Pleasant Dreams (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

Mission of Burma, 2wice (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

Mission of Burma, Academy Fight Song (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

As Justin Timberlake says, what goes around comes around: as the story goes, Mission of Burma took their name off a consulate building they happened to pass in New York. Twenty years or so later, the actual country of Burma is in turmoil. (If you haven't heard about it, that's because it's a particularly crappy time to be a non-oil-producing country in turmoil.) And so, with Roger Miller railing against facism and speakers from the US Campaign for Burma on hand to fill in the blanks, MOB embarked on an actual Mission. Involving Burma. Perfect.

Even perfecter, this one took the form of a fiery, sold-the-hell-out show at Great Scott, the most intimate venue they've played in Boston since reforming (unless you count the unofficial warm-up gig they played in Somerville the night before their proper reunion gig). And to top it off, they debuted at least four new, as-yet-unrecorded songs -- one of which we'll be posting soon. (Asked if there were plans for a new album, Miller said there were not, but didn't rule it out, adding that they hadn't really properly planned anything, ever.) For now, check out these fantastic performances of some recent and classic chunes. And stop by the US Campaign for Burma's website to get the lowdown on Burma. We've sent off our tapes to the Campaign folks, who are planning on clandestinely beaming the full show into Burma sometime soon.