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Posts Tagged ‘Mission of Burma’

Top 5: side one, track one

Posted in music, tagged , , , , , , , on April 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »


The Victoria Record Club will be meeting Tuesday, April 24th at Smiths.  And I guess we’re feeling pretty basic because it is Top 5: side one, track one night.  Everyone in the club is supposed to come up with their favourites…then we’ll play selections from the lists at Smiths for a couple hours.

What does “side one, track one” mean?  Basically its a hipster way of saying… song number one on a record or album.

To me, side one, track one is hugely important and needs to do one of (or all of) three things.

01) It should be your best song.
02) It should be ripper.
03) It should introduce the listener to your album.

Breaking this down… rule number 1 is vitally important if your band is new to the world and I’ve never heard of you.  Your first song needs to immediately  grab my ears or you’re gone.  When I hosted the Morning After Show in the days when the internet was still new, it was hard to learn about bands and music streaming was not really out there.  I had to actually put your CD in the CD players and in real time listen.  If your first song was some artistic fuckery, as rad as you probably are… I just skipped to the next CD.  Cold.  But that is how it was when I had a pile of wannabes wanting airtime at 3AM on a 1000 watt FM in Vancouver.

Now… if your band has some history, or track one truly is some great studio fuckery… then jam on rule 3 and have the song be a great movie-esque introduction to your band.  A song that did not make my list (but was close) was The Appleseed Cast‘s “Ceremony.”  Huge jam, instrumental.  So perfect and sets the tone for a great album.

Instrumentals and studio fuckery is not your style?  I respect that.  and what?  Your best song is a ballad and maybe not the best side one, track one? OK (if you’re not an indie band… indie bands should still always put their BEST song first) then rule number 2 applies to you.  A ripper.  Hit my head holes with sonic choiceness.  And I will love you and grind through the dip of your shitty song two (and maybe three) to revel in the emotional depth of your stunning ballad.  Snow Patrol‘s Eyes Open kinda does this.  They want to save the jam for the single and track 2 “Hands Open” then bust your heart open with track 3, “Chasing Cars” so you get the highly energetic and lead single “You’re All I Have.”

wah wah wah…. here is my list.  If you’re a regular reader on my blog, there shouldn’t be too many surprises.  And actually, maybe you could leave me a comment if you think I screwed up my own list.  Keep in mind, the purpose of this exercise was to dig through my collection of records… so my rule was, I have to own the record.  if you think, “fuck this guy’s list! Imma make my own!”  Awesome, share the link in the comment section so I can check it out.

01) Smashing Pumpkins – “Cherub Rock”

Making a list of favourite music is always a personal experience and so I begin with some personal history.  Siamese Dream is a hugely important record for me growing up and a vinyl I only recently added to my collection.  “Cherub Rock” invokes rule 2 of Jeremy Baker’s Rules of Side One Track One.  Not the best song on the album, but the best song to hook you into the fuzzy reverberated world of Billy and company.  “Cherub Rock” is number one on my list because it does an exceptional job of telling the story of the album.  You can hear this song… and probably make your mind up whether you wanna stick around.  The album is great because if you do, you get rewarded with a collection of interesting and classic alternative songs.

02) Interpol – “Untitled”

The great albums like the great baseball teams have a strong lead off batter.  Its a role player who gets on base so the power hitter can drive in a run and the team as whole wins.  To me… I am hearing rule number 3… “Untitled” sounds like the opening credits to Turn on the Bright Lights.  Its mysterious.  Paul Banks barely sings anything… but its so emotional.  It reminds me of American Beauty when Kevin Spacey breaks the third wall and talks to the audience and says that his character dies.  Then the movie really starts.

“I will surprise you some time.  I’ll come around. When you’re down”

What an intriguing promise.  Now deliver… and they do with a masterpiece record that to this day remains Interpol’s best.  This song is not only side one track one of an album, but side one track one of their discography.  whoa…

03) The Replacements – “I Will Dare”

My favourite song from my favourite band.  And it happens to be track one, side one off their album Let It Be.  This song has done a lot to make my life better.  It was the first replacements song I heard that got me to explore more about the band.  It has gotten me through some ups and some downs in my life.  Repeated listenings as I ride this rock around the sun year-after-year bring me renewed appreciation and different interpretations.  I will probably love this song forever.

I’ll say this a rule 1 song.  Best song, Right up front.

04) Mission of Burma – “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”

Another rule 1 song on our adventure of my Top 5: side one, track one.  The best MOB song at first listen.  The beauty of the great bands… once you’re hooked, other songs emerge as “favourites.”  But it is undeniable that “Revolver” is a powerful hook to demand attention.  You give it and the song is rewarding.  Stay with the record and you’ll quickly find other amazing songs on Signals, Calls and Marches.

I must have the Rykodisc 1997 track listing… not the original and not the Matador reissue in the 2000s.  Huh.

Up to this point, it was actually pretty easy.  I almost went right to my record pile and pulled these four records out and knew in my heart this was the list.  Then the 5th pick.

I hmmmm’d and hmmmm’d some more on a few records.  Its pretty late so my kid and Coral are sleeping.  I have my headphones plugged in (and I noticed Madelyn was playing ‘records’ because there is some damage to Numark… MADELYN OLIVIA!!!!)… and this was actually fun… playing a whole bunch of record in my pajama pants trying to find the right 5th… in the end, it came down to The Appleseed Cast, Braid’s “The New Nathan Detroits,” Japandroids and a couple Band of Horses and National LPs… but in the end, I could not deny….

05) Bon Iver – “Perth”

Side one, track one off Bon Iver’s Bon Iver record is just so god damned pretty and lush.  Another number 3 type of lead off track…. Bon Iver is doing the Bon Iver thing to introduce you to the album.  Then he gets to the jam, but only after you eat your bread.

And its called “Perth” and I have a weird romantic fascination with that far off city… that actually know nothing about and will probably never go to.  But a song called “Perth” gets my attention…. silly reason to be on my list, but its true. (and not the only reason)

After you listen to this song, you should be pretty primed to listen to the whole album.  And if all you hear is “Perth” well… you get the idea of what Justin and his band of merry Wisconsinites are all about.

And that is my list.  If you took the time to read this far and listen to some of the songs, thank you for indulging me.

Tomorrow I reckon I’ll get into the new Jack White if I have the time or talk about another great song I heard on Sons of Anarchy.

Go with yourself.

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Mixtape >> I’m in love … what’s that song

Posted in music, playlist, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2011| 4 Comments »

I am about half way through the book “Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerrad so I thought I’d put down a little mix of some of the bands featured.

The first 7 bands featured on the set are all profiled in the book. The last 3, D.O.A., R.E.M., and Meat Puppets don’t have a profile in the book.. but they get talked about a bunch and I wanted to round out the set.

I hope you like this little 30 minute set of 80s alt. rock.

***

DJ Notes

01) The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”
02) Husker Du – “Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely”
03) Mission of Burma – “Academy Fight Song”
04) Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”
05) Minor Threat – “Good Guys (Don’t Wear White)”
06) Minutemen – “History Lesson Part 2”
07) Black Flag – “Nervous Breakdown”
08) D.O.A. – “Take A Chance”
09) R.E.M. – “So. Central rain (I’m Sorry)”
10) Meat Puppets – “Plateau”

Stream from Mixcloud >> I’m in love … what’s that song?

***

Go with yourself.

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Mission of Burma and Murdering Airplanes

Posted in music, tagged , , on April 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »


As I slowly meander through the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, I’ve been revisiting my collection of 1980s alt rock.

The book profiles a bunch a indie rockers of the late 70s/early 80s including many of my personal favourites… like Mission of Burma.

What’s neat about the book so far is that many of the bands’ stories share common threads, inspiration and hardships.

I have noticed that more than one of the bands found some inspiration in an artistic movement of the early 1900s called Dada.

Mission of Burma was definitely the “arty” of the early alt. rock bands and their first single “Academy Fight Song” was backed with “Max Ernst.”

The real Max Ernst was a German painter who was part of the Dada movement of the 1920s when we left the trenches of the World War One.

A lot of Dada art was a reaction to nationalism, war and capitalism.  The picture at the top of this blog post is called “Murdering Airplane” and Max painted it in 1919.

Mission of Burma must have been into the art and expressions of Max Ernst as they would later revisit Max with their 2002 song “Max Ernst’s Dream.”

Mission of Burma – “Max Ernst”

Download MP3 >> mission_of_burma_max_ernst

Nice, I love the tape-loop at the end of the band going “dada dada dada dada.”

Go with yourself.

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The Week in Music

Posted in playlist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2009| 3 Comments »

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Some music getting some play on the home stereo over the past week here at the Baker homestead.

01) Frightened Rabbit
02) New York Dolls
03) MGMT
04) The National
05) All State Champion
05) Mission of Burma
07) Metric
08) The Killers
09) The Animals
09) Flo Rida

Flo Rida?  I know right…. but I bought this new single of his that features or samples or he riffs off “Right Round” as in…

How can you not love the song?

New York Dolls had a strong week because that record is new for me.  I bought it after watching the New York Doll documentary the other day.

Madelyn and I jammed out the MGMT, she seems to like that band (and oddly, The Layne Mitchel Podcast?  The Rick Lee prank calling Rick Lee… yup as funny as it sounds).

The other odd one showing up this week is The Animals.  I dunno why, just went on a Animals kick last week.  I think I heard the song “I Got to get outta this place” on the TV somewhere and it triggered a need for further audio exploration.

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The best singer songwriter you’ve never heard of

Posted in music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2008| 5 Comments »

Neat.

Coral got me some records for Christmas and my brother got me the new Kings of Leon so it was time to add another row to the wall of records.  I saw those two British Guys that design interiors and the one always wears outrageous flowers on his shoulder…  Colin and Justin?  Those guys were on the Ceeb last night (I was watching the show Toronto about living in Toronto for some reason, I have no desire to live there… but I think its neat watching local TV shows for places where I don’t live) and they were talking about the need to change living spaces every season like you would your hair, or clothes… or at least change every 4 or 5 years like you might your car.  Now I don’t have the cash to redecorate the home but I can add another row of records.  Coral and I are also planning on moving the TV off the fire place mantle to a little stand and then digging the record player out and putting that up on the mantle with the MP3 player.  Nice, tangent.

Coral bought me the Cut//Copy single for “Hearts on Fire” and Fleet Foxes record.  She liked the look of the Cut//Copy single better than the album and I agree.  I asked for Fleet Foxes not because I LOVE them (they are good and growing on me.  Coral actually got me to take a second listen… “White Winter Hymnal” came up on a playlist I made over Christmas and every time she went, “What is that?”), I asked for Fleet Foxes because the record has a Medieval village scene on the cover which I thought looked pretty rad.  Musicians into history are musicians that I am into.

My brother bought Kings of Leon’s new record for me because he hears me yapping about on the Zone all the time.  Then I bought the Mission of Burma record because “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” is one of my all time favourite songs.

I fired up my Mission of Burma DVD last night and got out the level and measuring tape to square it all off.  I commented to Coral that this record represents maybe the 4th time that I have purchased the song “That’s When I reach…”  I discovered the song when I bought a compilation of 80’s alternative music.  Fell.in.love with MOB.  Had to own the actual album (on CD) Signals, Calls and Marches.  Then I was hooked.  They happened to be signed to Matador Records at the time and had put out a new record, The Obliterati.  So I bought that and a Matador compilation that had a MOB song I didn’t have.  This lead to me needing to buy their old full length LP, Vs.  When I bought Vs. I saw that it was an extended bonus thingamajig that is all the rage these days, and Signals had the same treatment… so I bought Signals again!

Now I have Signals on vinyl hanging on my wall.

I am a fan.

Every band hanging on my wall I am generally a fan of.  I own all the LPs I have on CD and/or MP3.  In the case of the National… I have their albums and I go out of my way to see them live.  The first time they came to Vancouver was to open for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  CYHSY was all the rage at the time, a real hipster group and I was temped to go to Vancouver to see them then… I would have had my first encounter with what would go on to become one of my favourite groups.  But I did not… and The National would go undiscovered by me for at least another year.  Then one day Tyson came over ot my place when I lived in Fernwood.  back then, Tyson had a subscription to eMusic, and the beauty of that service is that Razer can log on anywhere and access his music and “share” it with friends.  He added a ton of music that night including “All the Wine” by The National.  That one song, randomly added to my computer by Tyson on an evening of pints hooked me.  I became a fan.  A champion of the National.  Boxer came out soon after (or maybe around the time I was exposed to “All The Wine” and I bought it and it was one of those life changing records.  The National came to Vancouver to play at Richards last summer when Coral was pregnant and Razer, Cherylann, Coral and I all took the boat over for the show.  It was one of the better rock show I have seen live (and I’ve been to far more than the average music lover).  Coral and I put the record up on the wall.  The next Spring, The National got the nod to open for REM.  Luckily I love REM… Grandma Mom and Grandpa Jack watching Madelyn and Coral and I spread out on a blanket at Deer Lake, drank some Strongbows and enjoyed the sounds and park while listening to The National.

I am a fan.

and as long as The National or Mission of Burma or (insert your favourite band HERE!) has fans that will pay whatever price and travel to see them.  Buy their record first and buy the same record in multiple formats, they will never go hungry.

Some bands connect with their audience in that profound and important way and some do not… or do they?

Here is a piece of an article I read in the 2008 Year in Review with Monday Magazine.

Still waiting

In our May 1 issue, we ran an article about local musician Anne Schaefer’s latest project, a concept album called The Waiting Room. She’d secured a Canada Council grant to record the disc and was holding a big concert, to be recorded and broadcast on CBC Radio Two, as a way to raise enough funds to get the album finished.

While the concert went well and made it to broadcast (hear it online at cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080503annes), it didn’t raise as much money as Schaefer would have hoped; the album has been recorded, but it hasn’t been mixed, mastered or manufactured yet. With the release of a follow-up to her critically acclaimed Twelve Easy Pieces temporarily shelved, Schaefer has been forced to take a job—her first in 15 years, as previously she’s been able to make a living as a self-employed musician.

“One of the things I’m trying to do as the director of Larsen’s School of Music is create classes and workshops and interesting projects so that I can offer employment to as many of the talented musicians in this town as possible,” she says of her current job. “Most of them are struggling to make a living as well and have not been accessible to the greater community if they’re not teaching privately, which is a real shame.”
Is this article a celebration of Anne’s career or damnation of the “system” that will not embrace her music?

To me this article is a celebration, so then I don’t understand what they’re saying.  Anne has been able to NOT work in a traditional power structure for 15 years!  For more than half my life, Anne has done what most of you reading this blog and what most of the people reading Monday Mag dream of… freedom.  After her 15 year run as a professional musician Anne was FORCED to take a job, and what job did she take?  DIRECTOR of Larsen’s School of Music.  The boss.  BECAUSE she worked for 15 years as a musician she  is rewarded with a job that allows her to continue to play music, learn and share.  This is a job that I can not do because I have not grinded away for 15 years as a professional musician.

I am some what led to believe that Anne might not be an overly successful musician in the sense that after her 15 year run, she could not find the capital required to mix her record.  She received a grant.  That is nice.  Her budget and vision was more extravagant than the grant so she picked up her socks and put on a concert.  She asked her fans to come to the show and support her art.  They did not meet expectation and she continues to wait to put out the record.

What went wrong?

Hard for me to say, as I don’t know Anne, and I don’t know the whole story… just what I read in Monday Mag and what kind of tone or moral the magazine was trying to instill.

I believe that Anne’s problem is that she was unable to motivate 1,000 true fans in her 15 year odyssey of music.  Anne doesn’t need more government funding, or more grants, or more Monday Mag articles wagging their fingers at society, or 15 more CBC channels.  Anne needs some real fans that will buy whatever she records, every time.  She needs a me.

The best singer songwriter you’ve never heard of.

Go with yourself.

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