Pitchfork

Photo by William Kirk

No matter how successful a reunion is, there's something special about a great band's initial run. Unfortunately, recent Mission of Burma converts won over by The Obliterati or OnOffOn have had trouble accessing the band's early days, since original documents like Signals, Calls, and Marches and Vs. have been out of print on CD for two years and unavailable on vinyl for almost 20.

Thankfully, the folks at current Burma label Matador are taking care of that. As previously mentioned, Matador will reissue the band's entire Ace of Hearts catalog, remastered and loaded with tons of goodies, on March 18.

For starters, each of the three reissues will come with a 32-page booklet featuring interviews with the band and producer Rick Harte. And if you choose to opt for the vinyl copies, you'll receive the booklets, the same bonus DVDs that come with the CDs, and coupons for complete MP3 downloads, all in between nifty gatefold sleeves.

The brass tacks of each reissue's contents are after the jump.

Signals, Calls, and Marches: The band's 1981 EP will come with their debut 7" (featuring "Academy Fight Song" and "Max Ernst") and two previously unreleased outtakes from the single's recording sessions, "Execution" and "Devotion".

Of those two tracks, guitarist/vocalist Roger Miller said, "We don't know why we didn't finish them back in the day, we just didn't. 'Academy' and 'Max' were decided to be the single, so we let it ride. Both 'Devotion' and 'Execution' are very much 'of the time' with a political overtone, and generally pretty rippin', all things considered. We did the vocals and guitar overdubs shortly after The Obliterati.

"The other song (we recorded five) from the 'Acad'/'Max' sessions was a version of 'Secrets' [from Vs.], which actually didn't come out too well! (It will never see the light of day, thank you.) However, the idea was that we were going to put out the 'Acad'/'Max' single with 'Secrets' imprinted on the 45 sleeve, kind of like a flexi-disc, but actually, like when I was a kid: fucking cereal boxes would have Bobby Vinton 45s imprinted on them you could play at home! That was the core idea behind that. (Of course, we never did it: it was just an idea-- probably the best for everyone...)"

The Signals reissue will also come with a DVD of "rare footage from an early gig at Cambridge, MA's The Space," according to Matador.

Vs.: Mission of Burma's 1982 debut LP will come with four bonus tracks and a DVD of the matinee set at the band's final (well, for quite a few years) Boston show, which took place at the Bradford Ballroom on March 12, 1983.

The Horrible Truth About Burma: This 1985 album, released after the band's initial break-up, collected previously unavailable tunes recorded live at the band's last shows in the spring of 1983. The reissue features the album's original sequence, includes one previously unreleased song, and adds a bonus DVD of the evening set at the Bradford Ballroom on March 12, 1983.

Now fast forward to the coming week, in which Mission of Burma have a couple of shows scheduled. The second of those is a benefit for Burma (Myanmar), and the band is auctioning off four pairs of tickets to the gig. All proceeds from the auctions will go to the U.S. Campaign for Burma. To bid, click on one of these four links.

Burma:

01-19 New York, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
01-20 Allston, MA - Great Scott (Benefit for Burma)
05-29-31 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Estrella Damm Primavera Sound Festival)