With the news that Matador are reissuing three classic discs from Mission Of Burma, with a WHOLE TON of extras, it’s a great time to look back over the career of a band whose influence is felt in all alternative rock music today. From the Pixies, to Throwing Muses, to Nirvana, and even to Moby… all of these artists have acknowledged the importance of Mission Of Burma.

Video: Live performance of ‘Peking Spring’ from 1979

Mission Of Burma’s origins lie in a desire to push the idea of rock music in 1979. Auditioning drummers by playing Sun Ra, and recruiting a live audio enigineer and tape effects artist, by 1980 they had honed a mix of post-punk, artrock, and avant-garde experimentation that resulted in the debut 7″ ‘Academy Fight Song’. The single sold out it’s 7,500 copies, unheard of for an independant release of the time. The next release was the ‘Signals, Calls, and Marches’ EP, a seminal release mixing art punk immediacy with avant-garde sensibilities. The Matador reissue includes the ‘Academy Fight Song’ tracks, as well as two more tracks from those sessions. Oh, and a live DVD containing ‘Live at The Space (October 6, 1979)’ and ‘The Underground (April 20, 1980)’.

Video: Live performance of ‘This Is Not A Photograph’ from 1980

The debut LP followed in 1982, to rave reviews (”…aural surprises lurk in the chordal folds … martial chants erupt suddenly into harmonies … a raw-power dissertation … a solid, compelling piece of work…” - The New York Times), and is also reissued together with 3 non-album tracks and a b-side, and a live DVD, ‘Live at The Bradford Ballroom, March 12, 1983′.

Unfortunately, extreme stage volume exacerbated vocalist Roger Miller’s tinnitus, and the band decided to call time on their career, embarking on a farwell tour. Their final shows in March 1983 were recorded and released in 1985 as ‘The Horrible Truth About Burma’. This is also reissued, together with four bonus tracks and a live DVD of their last hometown performance.

Audio: Weatherbox (live) from the reissue of ‘The Horrible Truth About Burma’

However, the band reformed in 2002 and have released two further studio albums (2004’s ONoffON and The Obliterati from 2006) and continue to tour. They’re on the bill for Barcelona’s hugely huge Primavera Sound Festival this year, May 29-31 2008.

The reissues are released through Matador on March 18.