A.T.O.M. (A Twist of Modern) Carbon/Silicon (2006)

For twenty years Mick Jones stood at the forefront of English rock music -- an underrated figure whose various sonic experimentation coupled withth his innate pop song craft influenced music throughout the eighties, nineties and oughts.  Madchester, Carbon Silicon, trip-hop and trip-hop derived pop/rock, various experiments of alternative rock and hip/hop dance, Achtung Baby, even hybrid projects like Gorillaz (which Mick was part of at some point) all owe have a debt to Mick Jones musical vision, not to mention literally every post-1977 punk band. 

 Yes, I'll stand by that statement. 

With Carbon/Silicon, Mick's first project since the disolution of his seminal post-Clash Alternative Dance band Big Audio Dynamite, it's hard to find the innovation. Or at least with this album, which is the first by Carbon/Silicon.

It's an interesting project on paper: intially consisting of "unreleasable" demos made from samples of classic rock riffs and tunes, at some point Mick and his musical partner Tony James (bassist/lyricist for both Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, as well as Mick's long-time friend, and at one time member of the proto-Clash band The London SS),  eventually worked up full band demos which were then coaxed into releasable shape by engineering wizard Bill Price and distributed for free via the Carbon/Silicon website. (They've since been released commercially, but not until 2010. Most of it seems available on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, etc...)

There was some point about the democratization of rock music via the world wide web, something Mick had some experience (B.A.D.'s final album had been distributed for free too. 

Their argument seemed to be that people would still buy music even if they had it for free, and it certainly would stand as a good advertisement for gigs and the like. I've heard the argument before, and we must keep in mind this is before the advent of streaming which very much changed the music game completely. Nowadays with literally almost everything within reach virtually for free, a project like this would probably get lost: in fact, streaming has probably done more to "undemocratize" the music industry than file sharing did to "democratize it." 

But all that's academic: let's talk about the music.

I frankly find A.T.O.M. a little disappointing. It's all right through and through: intelligent, topical lyrics (I assume that Tony James and Mick collaborate on the lyrics and I assume the bulk of the music is written by Mick) that are very much in a socially conscious "punk rock" vein -- only all grown up, wihtout the energy and piss of youth. Which is fine. 

The problem to me is that the music is rather undynamic.  They songs do rock and for B.A.D. listeners who I imagine sometimes complained about the lack of tradional rocking songs on some of their songs that should be welcome news. But what you're left with then is simply B.A.D. without the spark of innovation and exploratory textures that made them truly ahead of their times. It's just sludgy punk-ish rock, upbeat and bright, not dark and dreary, but with very little  of MIck's arrangement genius (and I do think he is a rock arrangement genius) is evident for the most part, though there are sparks of it here and there. In the end, then, A.T.O.M. showcases some of Mick's worst tendencies: an overreliance on simplistic, underdeveloped melodies and a tendency to let songs go on too long, a weakness of Mick's since at least the Sandinista! era in 1980. There's also a good deal of what I call "Elvis Costello Syndrome (E.C.S.) on this album: too much singing. Some songs don't give you any room to breathe and stop thinking and just enjoy the music. I also miss a great drummer, another weakness of Mick's post Clash work: someone who can both drive and punctuate and subtly flavor the song, to give a song shape, which is crucial when so much of the verses are just one line of melody repeated ad infinitum. (Another weakness of Mick's.)

The final problem with the album is one that has plagued Mick ever since he was thrown out of The Clash (a tragic moment in musical history, in my opinion): his voice simply can't carry an entire album. The Clash got the balance right, with Mick singing approximately 30% of the songs and Joe singing the rest, with maybe a song thrown in by Paul or Topper. Mick's distinctive but flat vocals deliver melody well enough, but are always a little on the weak side and don't do much phrasing-wise to keep you interested. 

With all this complaining, one would think I hate this album, but I don't. And I've heard all othe other Carbon/Silicon albums I have available to me and at least one of them is excellent. I also want to note that I've only heard this album twice (once just now and once last Wednesday). It sounded better and less interminable the second time I heard it and I plan to listen to it several more times in the coming months as I'm conducting a Strummer/Jones song-by-song discussion thread over on the STeven Hoffman audiophile board. 

In the end, a judicial edit nad perhaps an external producer(fading out some songs are minute or two earlier, adding a few more guitar solos, etc.) would have considerably elevated this material, which is not bland, but needs a litlte more work

I'll give the album a preliminary, 2.8/5.

One excellent song stood out from many fine moments: "What The Fuck?" Amusingly the song is based on the "Can't Explain" riff by The Who, which has informed many a Mick Jones songs from "Capital RAdio One" to "Clash City Rockers" to "Guns on the Roof." But the song has a pop snap that much of the album lacks, and only the lyric (and the fact htat the writers were well into their fifties at time of release) probably kept it from being a smah hit.

 Those of you with Spotify can listen to it here:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5X71FCRAEvtOxXbzyPXWiU?si=1eb5f8cebaec457d

Coming Up:

A.M. Wilco

A.T.O.M. - Carbon Silicon

ABBA - ABBA 

ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Achtung, Baby! U2

Actually - Pet Shop Boys

Adult/Child- The Beach Boys

Aerosmith's Greatest Hits

After The Gold Rush - Neil Young

Afterglow - Crowded House

Aftermath (UK Version) - The Rolling Stones

Against The Odds: 1974-1982 Blondie (three disc version)

Aimee Mann Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Aiming For Your Head - Betchadupa

The Album -- ABBA

The Album That Never Was - The Kinks

All Four One - The Motels

All Over the Place - The Bangles

All Summer Long -- The Beach Boys

All the Great Hits -- Diana Ross

All Things Must Pass -- George Harrison

All This Useless Beauty -- Elvis Costello & the Attractions

All-Time Greatest Hits - Neil Diamond

Alluvium -- Eddie Rayner

Almost Blue -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Almost Summer - Celebration

Alpha Mike Foxtrot -- Wilco

The Alphabetchadupa - Betchadupa

Altitude - ALT

American Idiot Green Day

American Prayer -- The Doors

Amnesiac Radiohead

And I Feel Fine...The Best of the IRS years (1982-1987) - R.E.M.

Animals - Pink Floyd

Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo

Another Life - Another Life

Another Music in Another Kitchen: The Buzzcocks

Another Side of Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Anthology: Diana Ross & The Supremes

Anthology: Smokey Robinson & The Beatles

Anthology 1: The Beatles

Anthology 2: The Beatles

Anthology 3 The Beatles

Anthology: North South, East West - Tim Finn

Apple Venus: Volume One -- XTC

Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants

The ArchAndroid: Janelle Monte

Are Well-Respected Men - The Kinks

Armed Forces -Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Around the World in a Day - Prince

Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

At My Piano - Brian Wilson

Autoamerican - Blondie

Automatic for the People - R.E.M.