M.I.A. - Murder in a Foreign Place (40th Anniversary Edition)

Limited edition of 500 x orange vinyl LP+7" in hand screened fold. 7" comes in four colors and is housed in a vintage company sleeve. All different!
Limited edition of 500 x blue vinyl LP.
Primary reissue red vinyl LP.
All come with a 24 page booklet, inserts. 

Album tracks:

A1. Modern Way
A2. Small Man in a Big World
A3. All I Know
A4. What’s Your Problem
A5. Boredom is the Reason
A6. Who Will Survive
A7. Used to Know Me
A8. Murder in a Foreign Place
A9. Las Vegas
A10. Reality is Killing Me
A11. There is No Love

40th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks (All variants):

B1. Help Me Up *
B2. Reality is Killing Me *
B3. Hatin’ Life *
B4. Modern Way *
B5. Murder in a Foreign Place *
B6. Boredom is the Reason *
B7. Hatin’ Life **
B8. Help Me Up **

*Green Carton Demo
**JEL basic tracks

 7" track list (hand screened edition only):

A. Just A Dream
B. Turning Into What You Hate

Murder In A Foreign Place was recorded in late 1983/early 1984 at JEL Studio in Newport Beach, California. Engineered by Bill Trousdale and produced by M.I.A. It was released on Alternative Tentacles (Virus 35) in June 1984. Likely the band’s best-selling album, it was repressed several times in the 1980s with blue swapped out for red, as well as other red pressings.

On August 23, 2024, a 40th Anniversary Special Edition of Murder in a Foreign Place was released jointly on Modern CIty Records (MCR#18) and Alternative Tentacles (Virus 523) with 8 bonus tracks from the era.

Formed in Las Vegas in 1980, M.I.A. moved to Orange County in 1981 and started playing shows at the infamous Cuckoo’s Nest. They first appeared on the classic Last Rites for Genocide and M.I.A. split LP (Smoke Seven) in 1982. After a short break, the band got back together in 1983 and recorded a six-song demo at Greencarton studios in November. 

They quickly became known for their energetic live shows, blending fast, guitar-driven hardcore with singer Mike Conley’s unique melodic voice and the trademark Southern Californian punk sound. 

After a show with the Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra offered to release their next album, Murder In a Foreign Place on his Alternative Tentacles label in the summer of 1984. 

“In the final days of December 1983, M.I.A. played a show in Las Vegas supporting the Dead Kennedys,” Guitarist & Vocalist Nick Adams recalls, “It was one of those underground DIY shows, in a dark warehouse space with a wall broken out to make it bigger, the result of kids willing to do just about anything to be with their friends and hear the music they loved. It was nearly broken up by the police (the Butthole Surfers were not allowed to play) but the Dead Kennedys got to do their set. M.I.A. had made an impression, though, and Jello Biafra offered to release M.I.A.'s next album on his label Alternative Tentacles. The record was also done in DIY fashion, with the band self-producing the resulting album.” 

The band went on to release two more records, Notes From the Underground (National Trust 1985) and After the Fact (Flipside 1987), re-issued as a 2xLP set in 2023 by French label Modern City. 

Sadly, singer Mike Conley passed away in 2008 following a tragic accident; but original members Nick Adams (guitar, vocals), Paul Schwartz (bass, vocals) and Larz Pearson (drums) perform as a three piece.

Now to mark the album’s 40th anniversary, Alternative Tentacles and Modern City have teamed up to bring you Murder In a Foreign Place in 2024. 

With a total of 19 tracks, the re-issue includes the original album along with 2 studio out-takes and the full Greencarton demos. Unreleased track Help Me Up appears here for the first time ever! 

There are three versions of the album: a limited edition with hand screened covers and colored vinyl, a limited blue cover edition with blue vinyl (a salute to the original mid-80s Mordam blue-cover pressing), and a traditional red cover with red vinyl, with a 24 page booklet. 

No matter if you have original copies of Murder In a Foreign Place, or just discovering M.I.A. for the first time, this album is a must for any collection! It’s an incredible re-issue for an indispensable album.