Pitchfork: Mission of Burma Reissues: Now With Tracklists

Mission of Burma Reissues: Now With Tracklists
Holy mother of god, these things are DELUXE

Bonus tracks! Previously unreleased material! Companion DVDs! "Never-before-seen photos and ephemera!" All these phrases in conjunction can only mean one thing: it's reissue time! And my oh my, have Matador got a heck of a reissue campaign planned for Boston post-punkers Mission of Burma.

As you know, Matador are furiously repackaging a trio of classic Burma releases from the Ace of Hearts label-- 1981's Signals, Calls & Marches, 1983's Vs., and 1985's The Horrible Truth About Burma-- for a March 18 release, with a mess of extras, including a bonus DVD with each disc.

Signals, Calls & Marches will be joined by the "Academy Fight Song" 7", a pair of unreleased tracks from the sessions for the 7", and a DVD of live performances, Live at The Space (October 6, 1979) and The Underground (April 20, 1980).

Vs. includes four bonus tracks: three from the album's sessions and one the B-side of the "Trem Two" single. That set's live DVD is Live at The Bradford Ballroom, March 12, 1983. It captures the afternoon set from the band's final hometown show.

The Horrible Truth About Burma is restored to its original sequence and bolstered by three previously-released bonus tracks and one, "Weatherbox", that's been in the vaults until now. The accompanying DVD for The Horrible Truth contains the evening performance from the band's Beantown farewell, as well as "the original, abbreviated VHS program, with original titles, released by Ace of Hearts through Atavistic in 1988," which whittles down the full set to a lean, mean 11 tracks.

Each and every reissue will come with a 32-page booklet featuring interviews with the band and producer/Ace of Hearts owner Rick Harte, plus the aforementioned photos and ephemera.

The vinyl versions of the reissues will come with "some extras" (there's MORE?!), the DVDs, and coupons for free downloads of the mp3s of the audio.

As for present day Burma, they recently raised a little coin for Callum Robbins, and they'll be appearing at Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival this May 29.

Signals, Calls & Marches:

01 Academy Fight Song ("Academy Fight Song" 7")
02 Max Ernst ("Academy Fight Song" 7")
03 Devotion (previously unreleased)
04 Execution (previously unreleased)
05 That's When I Reach for My Revolver
06 Outlaw
07 Fame and Fortune
08 This Is Not a Photograph
09 Red
10 All World Cowboy Romance

Live at The Space (October 6, 1979) and The Underground (April 20, 1980):

01 This Is Not a Photograph (The Underground, 1980)
02 Secrets (The Space, 1979)
03 Devotion (The Underground, 1980)
04 Manic Incarnation (The Underground, 1980)
05 Eyes of Men (The Underground, 1980)
06 Tremelo (The Underground, 1980)
07 Head Over Head (The Underground, 1980)
08 Peking Spring (The Space, 1979)
09 OK/No Way (The Underground, 1980)

Vs.:

01 Secrets
02 Train
03 Trem Two
04 New Nails
05 Dead Pool
06 Learn How
07 Mica
08 Weatherbox
09 The Ballad of Johnny Burma
10 Einstein's Day
11 Fun World
12 That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
13 Laugh the World Away (studio outtake)
14 Forget (studio outtake)
15 Progress (studio outtake)
16 OK/No Way ("Trem Two" B-side)

Live at The Bradford Ballroom, March 12, 1983 (afternoon set):

01 The Ballad of Johnny Burma
02 Red
03 Dirt
04 Forget
05 Secrets
06 Academy Fight Song
07 Trem Two
08 Sing-A-Long
09 That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
10 Weatherbox
11 That's When I Reach for My Revolver
12 Learn How
13 OK/No Way
14 Fun World
15 All World Cowboy Romance

The Horrible Truth About Burma:

01 Tremelo
02 Peking Spring
03 Dumbells
04 New Disco
05 Dirt
06 Go Fun Burn Man
07 1970
08 Blackboard
09 He Is, She Is
10 Heart of Darkness
11 That's When I Reach for My Revolver (bonus track)
12 Weatherbox (previously unreleased)
13 Trem Two (bonus track)
14 Learn How (bonus track)

Live at The Bradford Ballroom, March 12, 1983 (evening set):

01 This Is Not a Photograph
02 Mica
03 He Is, She Is
04 Outlaw
05 Peking Spring
06 Trem Two
07 Go Fun Burn Man
08 Fun World
09 Blackboard
10 See My Friends
11 Max Ernst
12 That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
13 Einstein's Day
14 Dumbells
15 That's When I Reach for My Revolver
16 Secrets
17 Academy Fight Song