rip, charlatans keyboardist rob collins

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It was 15 years ago today that Rob Collins, keyboardist for The Charlatans, died in a car accident on a country road in Wales.

The band was midway through the recording of fifth album Tellin Stories, which was completed with the help of Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy. By the next album, Us And Us Only, Tony Rogers had become Collins' permanent replacement.

Arguably, Collins' signature Hammond organ sound is what set The Charlatans apart and first gained them notice in the Madchester scene. He was a technician with an instrument that had fallen out of favor since the prog rock movement of the 70's.

In honor of his singular virtuosity, check out live recordings of "Indian Rope" and "Weirdo" from the 1992 Reading Festival. And below, find a download of debut album jam "Polar Bear." Enjoy:

charlatans 'the only one I know' factory floor remix

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As we mentioned yesterday, filmmaker David Lynch recently teamed with Interpol to release a new video for the song "Lights." Lynch also has started a charitable music label, DLF Music.

It's a lovely idea that gives artists (such as Ben Folds, Iggy Pop, Dave Stewart and Peter Gabriel) an opportunity to essentially donate their music to charity. Here's the official lowdown:

"This intern-fueled non-profit organization assures that the funds raised from music sales go directly to the charitable programs and not on support staff.

DLF Music is currently inviting select artists to donate previously unreleased, exclusive audio tracks for our music archive. These unreleased tracks could be a new track, an unreleased master, an outtake from a prior release, a live recording or even a remix."

Check out the full Download For Good list here. The track we're most interested in is the Factory Floor remix of The Charlatans classic "The Only One I Know." It takes the Madchester hedonism of the original and turns it into meditative, Far East flavored psychedelia:




Pretty cool, although you really can't improve on perfection:

the charlatans go acoustic with warm sounds

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Throughout the month of March, Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of the Charlatans are doing an acoustic tour of the UK. To coincide with these unplugged gigs, they've released an EP entitled Warm Sounds.

The EP features re-workings of six of the band's songs, half from the glory days and the other half from more recent albums — see the tracklist below. As they describe it:

"Both sophisticated and refined, the band has found inspiration in folky Byrds-esque harmonies and Johnny Cash style rockabilly."

We'll compare and contrast a couple of the classics from 1997's Tellin Stories. First up, the stripped-down version of "North Country Boy":




And here's the original:




Certainly different, but not as much so as "One To Another":




Now the Chemical Brothers influenced album version:




Warm Sounds is an interesting experiment, for sure. Here's the full track listing:

1. Smash The System
2. The Only One I Know
3. North Country Boy
4. Oh! Vanity
5. Blackened Blue Eyes
6. One To Another

the charlatans - the only one I know

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Just because. And if you haven't already, pick up the 20th anniversary edition of Some Friendly complete with a 19-track bonus disc of b-sides, singles, outtakes, and BBC session recordings.

the charlatans reach middle age

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There was a time when The Charlatans were counted among my favorite bands. I was mad fer Madchester and wasn't ashamed to admit it. I even stuck by them after the tragic loss of keyboardist Rob Collins forced them to drop the psychedelia and delve into britpop.

Now twenty years on from Some Friendly, Tim Burgess and the lads are back with their 11th studio album, Who We Touch.

It's not a bad record by any means, it just sounds like a band who are out of touch and out of ideas.
  


Beginning with 2001's electro-soul excursion, Wonderland, The Charlatans have been stylistically all over the map. That album actually worked, but since then they've churned out a succession of disappointments. Who We Touch is a "back to basics" album, but even so it can't recapture what made The Charlatans great. Lead single "Love Is Ending" is the closest they come to sounding like themselves:

Love Is Ending - The Charlatans by oldwaver


Makes me long for the days of Hammond organ solos...



RIP, Rob.