THE CHARLATANS
A Headful Of Ideas REPUBLIC OF MUSIC
Baggy survivors celebrate 30th anniversary with best-of/rarities
8/10
Initially pinned as Madchester coat-tail riders, The Charlatans used Britpop to reinvent themselves, refining a sound that mixed frontman Tim Burgess’s amiably dizzy lyricism with a Hammond-powered sound informed by ’60s soul and R&B. Now 13 albums strong, A Headful Of Ideas views the group’s legacy from a number of perspectives. The hits – “Can’t Get Out Of Bed”, “North Country Boy” –have aged nicely, while a disc of live performances offers clues to their longevity. In particular, a ’99 take on “Sproston Green” from Reading Festival captures their balance of flower-child whimsy and beefy psychedelic grooving. A limited fivevinyl boxset adds a disc of demos and a surprisingly good disc of remixes, The Chemical Brothers rewiring “Nine Acre Court” as rowdy breakbeat acid and Sleaford Mods teasing out an endearing greasiness from the cogs of “Plastic Machinery”.