Carbon/Silicon - Western Front CD Review

I was disappointed by this release...

Let me back up though and give people an idea where my head is. Carbon/Silicon is sort of a punk rock supergroup composed of Mick Jones (x-Clash) and Tony James (x-Generation X). I am a huge Clash fan but grew progressively more disinterested with each Big Audio Dynamite release post-"Megatop Phoenix". The final straw was when I saw B.A.D II on the MTV 120 Minutes package tour and the band's then obsession with house music put me to sleep. (The band was also blown off the stage by the antics of Johnny Rotten and PiL who went on right before them). "Western Front" follows in the same vein of later-day B.A.D. (or Big Audio).

Trying to be a bit objective now that it has been 16 years since I last focused on B.A.D., "Western Front" isn't a bad album, it is just very unremarkable. Mick Jones played on General Public's first CD and a lot of critics commented that they couldn't hear what/where he played. I feel the same way about Tony James' contribution to this release - I can't hear it.

Mick Jones' vocals are distinctive but his voice isn't as strong as it was twenty years ago and his distinctive guitar work is almost non-existent on this disc. It isn't that I am expecting a re-write of "Stay Free" but I found a good portion of this disc somewhat bland.

If anyone is still curious about this release, it was originally released as a free download on Carbon/Silicon's site. The band pulled this CD off their website to make room for new tracks but I am sure it is floating around on other download sites if someone wants to take a minute or two to look.

Links:
Carbon/Silicon's Website

New Joe Strummer CD, The Future is Unwritten, Released Today

I generally find the majority of CDs released after a band's breakup or after the death of a key member are really only for die-hards. I was a bit nervous that this release would signal the start of a flood of live and studio outtake CDs but this release looks worthwhile. This disc is the soundtrack to Julian Temple's film The Future is Unwritten which premiered at the Sundance Festival earlier this year.

Using a combination of old interviews collected from journalists, as well as tapes of Strummer's BBC radio show, "The Future is Unwritten" finds Strummer "very much narrating and DJing his life story," says Temple, renown for his Sex Pistols movie "The Filth and the Fury."

As such, the track listen is a combination of tracks from Strummer's influences along with some newly released Clash/Strummer rarities. It is cool to see In the Pouring Rain (by Clash II) finally released as previously this was only available on a limited edition bootleg 7".

Here is the total track listing:

1. Joe Strummer - "Punk Rock Warlord"
2. The Clash - White Riot - Previously Unreleased Alternate Demo Mix
3. Rachid Taha - Rock The Casbah
4. BBC World Service
5. Elvis Presley - Crawfish
6. Tim Hardin - Black Sheep Boy
7. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
8. The 101ers - Keys To Your Heart
9. Joe Strummer - "Mick and Paul were different"
10. The Clash - I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. - Previously Unreleased Demo
11. U-Roy - Natty Rebel
12. The Clash - Armagideon Time
13. Eddie Cochrane - Nervous Breakdown
14. The Clash - (In The) Pouring Rain - Previously Unreleased Live
15. Joe Strummer - Omotepe
16. Andres Landeros - Martha Cecilia
17. Ernest Ranglin - Minuet
18. Latino Rockabilly War - Trash City
19. Topper Headon - "I called him Woody"
20. Woody Guthrie - Ranger's Command
21. Bob Dylan - Corrina, Corrina
22. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Johnny Appleseed
23. Nina Simone - To Love Somebody
24. Joe Strummer - "Without people, you're nothing"
25. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Willesden To Cricklewood