Good evening again and welcome back to the blog, I almost wrote back to the plot for no apparent reason as if this was another installment of the world’s most poorly written novella ever published. Semi-seriously there is a new product that allows you to publish the entire contents of a blog as an e-book and download it…. every time that I half consider it I back away from the idea, but what if there was a small fee that went to Strummerville? I think that such an e-book would also includes all of the photographs from the blog so maybe at some point I’ll venture into that but probably not…I don’t know…. just thought I’d debate the idea with myself in front of you – how was that? So far there’s been 580 entries on the blog so the question is do you want to read half a million words about The Clash? I do…. except for the fact that I wrote most of them. Speaking of writing there’s been a couple of excellent pieces written about The Clash recently that I want to point you in the direction of. It’s been a bit of a strange week hasn’t it with the Paul Simonon ‘thing’ quickly followed by his birthday, all I learned this week was that journalists don’t check facts (or apologize) and the translation of the word stroke into about six different languages. Let’s move on from that then and show you some of the good stuff cluttering up my inbox.

As you probably remember last Sunday featured the first broadcast of “Rebel Truce – A History of The Clash” on BBC America which I hope a number of you were able to catch. Friend of the blog GN (I will just use his initials as he writes under a more fitting pseudonym) is just down the road from me in Tucson and occasionally writes for the Tucson Citizen online, he was able to see the broadcast and wrote this great piece online about it. Please leave comments if you can as I’m sure he’ll appreciate that – here is the link to his story.

I always enjoy reading people’s accounts of stumbling upon something that you were already personally aware of. It’s that same buzz you get when you play somebody a brilliant song for the first time or encourage them to try a specific restaurant that you practically own shares in but they’ve never had a good Pakistani meal (insert your preference here) in their lives. Such analogies apply to this article written by somebody who profess themselves to be a moderate Clash fan (my description not his) but really found himself enthralled by the series of radio broadcasts on the BBC world service hosted by Joe Strummer. He’s absolutely right of course; Strummer’s infectious passion for the music coupled with never knowing what he might say next or say next is in some senses one of the finest documents of just who Joe was especially when it came to music. I’m horribly guilty of judging somebody by their record collection and I think I would’ve loved looking through Joe’s and he having a trawl through mine. If for some reason you’ve yet to hear Joe’s recorded broadcasts you’ll find most of them linked here but also please take the time to read about Sanjoy Narayan’s introduction to them as it sets the stage quite nicely which you can do by clicking right here.

Finally I just wanted to make sure you check out some of the great comments been left lately on other posts, and thank you for writing so much good stuff  – some of the recollections and personal experiences are really great so make sure that you check the ‘Know Your Writes’ section on the blog (top right home page) from time to time.

Lots more to come in the next few days including updates from Carbon Silicon, some Clash shopping for Christmas, a review of the final dates of Gorillaz world tour plus a chance to get involved with commemorating the eighth anniversary of the loss of Joe Strummer on December 22nd. I’ve something in mind to do that day apart from play his music all day long – I’ll bounce that idea off of you tomorrow most likely. Thanks for the visit – have a good Tursday as they say in Dublin.

Good evening and welcome back to the blog on this fine sunny Thursday afternoon, I hope wherever you may be that your day went well. I’ve made a vow to myself to not discuss further than Joe Strummer film concept at least until more information is forthcoming as it seems to be quite a prickly topic just bordering on the suburbs of divisive. Hopefully it will either astound me and exceed expectations or be shelved as a project as it’s just not up to snuff. I do watch some interviews with the man asked with the screenplay last night, although he appears to be close to the right vintage pen is indeed London born something tells me you might just focus on idiosyncrasies when it comes to Joe rather than the difference he made to so many people. I’m also fully cognizant of the fact that the community who read this blog and also comment on the associated Facebook page are of a fairly unique calling in terms of our collective appreciation and inspiration often sourced via music in general and The Clash specifically, I’m tempted to write to whoever wins the director’s seat for the film and tell him that we would happily make up a test audience for the project. It might just point them in the right direction, plus I’d be able to share popcorn and assorted chocolatey goods with some of you fine people.

Right, consider that topic temporarily closed for the time being although you can go-ahead and comment on either of the last two posts which navigate the same topic in greater depth. Tonight is another example of why I love doing the blog and simply adore the support I get from some many of you, it’s the first time that the blog has been the beneficiary of translation services. In this circumstance the time and skill (and brilliant English) of my friend Silvia was called upon and generously given to translate a lengthy article that unless we speak Italian would simply be beyond our scope to enjoy. You may well remember if you read the blog regularly that Carbon Silicon made a special trip to Italy back in July to appear at a music festival where they were warmly greeted, and even took the time to put together this rather enjoyable video clip (thank goodness Tony James loves gadgets) of the trip down to Italy. Whilst there they also do a little bit of press and conducted this interview that currently appears online in the aforementioned Mediterranean tongue on Freakout Online. Thanks to Silvia who did a bang up job of translating into English we can all now enjoy it. Silvia incidentally speaks and writes better English than many people I know born in the UK or North America, it really is shameful for us! On to the article then which I’m sure you will enjoy.

Even more than Sex Pistols,The Clash have been the most representative of the british punk scene.Working class rebels,musical language innovators and rockers with a strong political view. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were the punk equivalent to what Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were on the previous decade.And then Jones,once the Clash experience ended,has gone through the next 15 years with various embodimentsof B.A.D.,before hitting the headlines again in 2002 as producer of the Libertines. It’s in the same period that Carbon Silicon take shape,the ongoing musical project shared with longtime friend Tony James,himself leading the british punk scene with Generation x first and with Sigue Sigue Sputnik later in the 80′s.

“I’ve never really abandoned the music scene” clarifies Mick,whom i met during the Neapolis Festival’s most recent edition.
“I’ve always been playing music and a few years ago i produced the two Libertines albums.So when i met Tony again we asked each other if we could do something together and the answer was yes!.What came out of this was a song,and then another one followed and another one again…”

The first track composed by the two was called “mp free “and it’s a kind of Carbon Silicon “manifesto” song,a representation of their liberitarian attitude: since the beginning Mick and Tony’s project was based on the gratuitousness of their music,easily downloadable for free on their official website. A choice that followed the Clash’s political approach when for example they used to demand the final selling price of their records to their record label. This happened with London Calling in 1979, a double album sold at the price of a single, and then again with the triple Sandinista! that CBS had to sell at the price of a double.

“it’s the music that counts” say unanimously Mick and Tony. “Since the beginning we found very exciting the fact of being able to make music that we liked and diffuse it directly to the public without having to go through a record company. The great idea is that you can record a track in your own bedroom and the next day a million people have the chance to download it for free from the web. In comparison to the time of the Clash, today there are many more opportunities”

For the young bands though,free download represents not only an opportunity but also a matter of “economical survival” – objection rejected:

“Good groups will always find the way of making money. It depends, if you play for the money (and then you are a banker not an artist) or if you do it for passion with talent. If someone has got something interesting to say,he eventually emerges from the masses and is recognized,economically too”

The same relaxed and upstream approach can also be found at Carbon Silicon’s concerts :

“The great thing about this group (C.S.) is that we can afford to play for our own pleasure,and for the fan’s.We play only where we know that they really want to see our concerts”

The London based band – that also has as a member bass guitarist Jessie Wood,Ron Wood’s son,and drummer Dominic Greensmith – has played this summer only one concert, in Italy,at Neapolis festival to promote their new album” The Carbon Bubble”. Rock tracks that don’t dislike contaminations and don’t hide their melodic qualities, rock and roll for the 21 st century.

“We don’t like to put a label on the kind of music we play : we play and compose freely,a bit like Grateful Dead used to do ” says Jones.

And if The Clash were really good in creating generational anthems that alternated personal stories with political matters,CarbonSsilicon prefer to concentrate on a more intimate aspect and on a message of hope even in times of crisis:

“We believe that positive thinking can influence the change. Our optimism is associated with the search of a deep meaning in our lives.That’s why we write songs about positivity… and then again we always just want to play music and have fun”

That concludes tonight’s translation! What an exceptional job she did and I can only imagine how much time it takes to do well, I speak English and have the vocabulary of a five-year-old French boy who didn’t pay attention in class – so I have great respect for anyone who has mastered second or third languages. Thanks again for taking the time Silvia to transfer over what was a really enjoyable interview, I do hope you good readers will also pay our thanks below in the comments section. Have a great night and I’ll be back tomorrow. Tim

On the other blog I wrote about the situation with the banks in Ireland…if you fancy a read.

That day went far too quickly….funny how days where you have little planned the clock goes even faster than usual. I’ve been trying to find a way to chronicle more information within the blog, on the permanent pages that you can link to (top tool bar). There is so much online that would be ideal to better compile in one place and I need to find a way to achieve that so that the site is a better resource of Clash information. The posts will keep rolling on daily but I would love if the site can become a guide to old newspaper and magazine articles, videos (not sure how that’s possible as more get added constantly), a thorough discography and an auction guide. I’ll see what I can find time for and welcome suggestions and ideas. Speaking of suggestions please feel free to add comments to the posts – your opinions add some spice and contrast to the blog, besides you often know more than your blogger on some of these topics.

Right then, a few things that don’t involve ‘that’ tour this morning (I started this post last night and sleep broke me down once more). Thanks to Gail for the heads up that Carbon Silicon have added a new video to their site. Tony seems to love to capture the band in non concert situations and the clips on the video below show the band rehearsing songs old and new for the recent Dublin gigs they performed. Did any of you make it along to the two concerts in one day in Dublin? If so please write in and let us know what we missed. I know there’s a lot of visitors from Ireland so speak up! Also be keen to know who may have attended the Strummerville showcase gigs around England last week – once again write in if  you have a few minutes to let us know what you thought. Here’s that video then:

Just wanted to give a thumbs up to PRX.org (Public Radio Exchange) for doing a nice job of uploading and providing access to most of the Joe Strummer BBC World Service broadcasts. Check this link and bookmark it for future enjoyment. There really is no better way to spend a Sunday morning than listening to Joe talking about the music he loves and the diversity of the music isn’t too shabby either. (Watching Liverpool lose earlier again was a good appetiser though I’ll confess). I’ve linked out to these before but I understand a lot of people never got to hear them or have trouble finding them in one place, so I hope you enjoy ‘em.

Right, better do some things around the house…more to follow later today. Cheers for dropping in. Tim