Carbon/Silicon...Show # 171

In 2002, former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, and former Generation X bassist Tony James formed a new group called Carbon/Silicon. Jones and James previously played together in the London SS in 1975, which spawned three different punk bands (The Clash, Generation X, The Damned). Carbon/Silicon was started due to Internet file sharing, one of the first songs Jones/James wrote was "MPfree" which was available for free online. The band began using samples similar to Mick Jones post Clash band Big Audio Dynamite and had two albums worth of material by 2003. Instead of getting clearance for samples for official release Carbon/Silicon made the songs available for free via a fan website. The releases only available through the Internet were titled, Sample This - Peace, and Dope Factory Boogie.

In 2004, the band made their own official website to distribute their recordings. The band also began playing live shows and encouraged fans to record and share the material. The band also released The Grand Delusion and The Homecoming in 2004; Along with the first two releases these were seen as demo recordings. The band then started functioning more as a rock band and less of a band that used samples. In 2006 came A.T.O.M. (A Twist of Modern) and Western Front. Both releases were the first official releases from the band and they featured new recordings as well as re-recordings of older Carbon/Silicon songs. The band then released The Crackup Suite, which was a mini-album featuring new recordings in March of 2007. A series of EP's came next, The News EP, was the band's first physical released which meant you could actually buy it instead of just downloading it, the same for The Magic Suitcase EP.

Finally recently in 2007, the band released it's first official full length album The Last Post. This was twelve tracks, eleven previously available in different forms on their website, and one new track; The tracks were all remixed by Engineer Bill Price (who worked on London Calling, and Nevermind the Bollocks). Carbon/Silicon is still touring, and the band sounds like a mix of Big Audio Dynamite and The Clash, a different kind of rock not exactly the same as Jones and James previous punk bands, but still good. Also around this time the band got former B.A.D. bassist Leo "E-Zee-Kill" Williams, and Dominic Greensmith of the band Reef on drums. From 2004-2005 William Blake played bass for the band, and Danny The Red played drums. For more info on the band as well as free mp3 downloads visit Carbon/Silicon Inc.

What was played:

1. XTC – Science Friction
2. Rezillos – Top of the Pops
3. The Skids – Into the Valley
4. The Perks – Escape
5. The Sinners – In With the New
6. Spiral Scratch – Jimmy Was a Virus
7. The Saints – Lipstick on Your Collar (One Two Three Four EP)
8. The Saints – One Way Street (One Two Three Four EP)
9. The Saints – Demolition Girl (One Two Three Four EP)

10. The Saints – River Deep Mountain High (One Two Three Four EP)
11. Replacements – I Will Dare
12. 63 Monroe – Media Junkie
13. Lowlife – Thinking Naturally
14. Animal Kingdom – Tension
15. Public Image Limited – Swan Lake
16. Klark Kent – Office Girls
17. Subway Sect – Ambition
18. Elvis Costello – Welcome to the Working Week
19. Wreckless Eric – Whole Wide World
20. Redwalls – Hangman
21. The Charms – Don't Let Me Down
22. Neil Young – Dirty Old Man
23. The Hives – Won’t Be Long
24. Dead 60s – Prime Time
25. Carbon/Silicon – The News
26. The Clash - What's My Name

Download Part One of Show 171
Download Part Two of Show 171

Carbon/Silicon Videos:

The News
What The Fuck?
Tell It Like It Is
Mpfree
Gangs of England
Soylent Green
Why Do Men Fight? (Live Isle of Wight Festival 2007)