"I believe in seeds; I believe in water; I believe in ideas"
So said Mick Jones in 'A National Anthem' - a song he and Tony James wrote together for their (truly wonderful) band Carbon Silicon who were knocking around just after the turn of the millennium.
Some bright spark, it may have been Alan McGee, said, when trying to describe them: "Imagine the Rolling Stones jamming with a laptop." He wasn't far wrong. This version, which leans heavily on Marvin Gaye's Heard it Thru the Grapevine, is, I think, far superior to the heavily sanitised recording that appeared much later on their 2007 release
The Last Post (by which time, possibly fearing a plagiarism lawsuit, they'd dropped the Grapevine motif).
01 A National Anthem.mp3
pixeldrain.com/u/fKT6vfZ4
I thought C/S were really good. Saw them in Manchester at Night and Day, really small venue, on a very hot night and they were superb. Why Do Men Fight is as good a song as Mick has written in recent years.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is a very nice version of A National Anthem.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adam.
DeleteA bit like the Who, CS never really captured on record what they were all about live. I saw then plenty of times and each gig was like a religious experience; really. They were that good.
Yes, 'A National Anthem' was flawless.
My problem with Carbon Silicon was one of quantity over quality. Such was the deluge of music they made available (the majority of it free of charge via MP3 admittedly) it was inevitable that a portion of it would be weak, in some cases very weak indeed - and I say this as a man who has loved Mick Jones for my entire adult life. All that being said, Carbon Silicon's best work was absolutely terrific; 'MP Free', 'Why Do Men Fight?', 'A National Anthem', 'The News' and particularly their touching swansong 'Big Surprise' all spring to mind.
ReplyDeleteI think a Carbon Silicon ICA is called for - and you're the man to pull it together John.
You raise a valid point TS. But that was Jones' ethos at the time - write 'em, bang 'em out, write the next one, repeat.
DeleteYep, I could compress them down into 10 songs. Watch this space.