Peking Spring

Mission Of Burma includes: Roger Miller, Clint Conley, Peter Prescott. Producers: Peter Drayton, Lou Giordano. PEKING SPRING is a compilation of tracks recorded between 1979 and 1982. Initially released under the title MISSION OF BURMA, PEKING SPRING is a posthumous 29-minute tour through previously uncollected Burma tracks from various radio and studio sessions originally recorded between 1979 and 1982. Collectors should note that, though tracks from some of these sessions later appeared on FORGET, a second compilation album, there is no repetition of material between the two sets. Whatever PEKING SPRING might lack in cohesiveness, it more than makes up for with raucous versions of some of the band's best material, much of which was otherwise heard only at their live shows. Standouts include "Dumbells," featuring Roger Miller's wild guitar, "He Is/She Is," highlighting Peter Prescott's drumming, and "Blackboard"'s hyperactive bass lines, courtesy of Clint Conley. Also noteworthy is "Go Fun, Burn Man," which starts and ends as straight-ahead punk rock, getting jagged and experimental in the middle, in the space of just under two minutes. On the jerking "Nu Disco," Martin Swope's tape manipulations add some unsettlingly weird effects to an already creepy song.