Durutti Column: classic or dud

Isn't there some doubt as to whether that's really Vini? Wasn't he fairly unimpressed by Stephen Street's compositions, and declined to play on some of that record? So it may be Street impersonating Reilly playing Street...

im pretty sure he played on 'suedehead' but there was definitely friction.

don't know if this is offputting or not

yes yes eyerolling challops from a newbie but i can't stand moz or smiths and everything stephen street touches is tainted but creative tension indicates differing aesthetics

thanks for the tips bill a

I'd agree that you can't really go wrong with Vini Reilly* ; the first two Durutti records are sublime too. My introduction was the Valuable Passages Factory comp, which has some of the best bits of his "classical" record, Without Mercy too.

(* - a huge bonus for me, though not for Karen, was the acoustic Vini/Moz 7" included with it, where Vini famously plays a bum note and they dissolve into laughter)

>Isn't there some doubt as to whether that's really Vini?

Yeah, I've read various bit and pieces about that riff's provenance (Antiques Roadshow style). To my ears, it's so like Reilly in composition, tone and style that *even if* it were Street trying to pastiche him or whatevs, then I don't care. But my money is that it's Vini, because it sticks out like a sore thumb from the jangling guitar on the rest of that song.

(and Karen, no sweat on the challops, Morrissey solo is very far from what I enjoy, although lots of love for The Smiths)

i would always vote to start with "the return of.." and "LC", the former because it's beautiful and wondrous and the latter because it's probably vini's most accessible work.

tbh i think you could pretty much dip anywhere in his catalogue, though i can't say i'm a huge fan of a lot of his 90s work. wrt newer stuff, anything he's done from "someone else's party" onwards is definitely worth checking out.

I'd recommend "LC" or "Another Setting" but anywhere from "Return of" to "Vini Reilly" will do as a starting point.

Some of Vini's 90s gear is well worth a spin if you're willing to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

I recently started loving Obey the Time. It's his most electronic album, I think.

Totally agree about Obey The Time. It's a great album and the electronic kick drums on a couple tracks sound exactly the same as on New Order's Technique. Do you have The Together Mix tracks?

http://www.discogs.com/Vini-Reilly-The-Together-Mix/release/515832

They're on the reissue of Obey the Time too.

http://users.rcn.com/rpsweb/durutti-column/texts/liner-obeyR.html

Liner notes for the reissue. Back track on that site for a pretty great collection of scans.

is the Keir referenced in those notes the same one who did Inch with Mark E Smith?

I have the reissue of Obey The Time that includes the Together mix, tis great gear.

"Kiss of Def" is totes awes as well.

Sucked into listening to DC again. Thanks thread! Anyway, I see that Durutti Column did a live session on BBC radio this week.

http://www.thedurutticolumn.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/b00c72y1/console

shit! except that's the wrong iplayer link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/b00c72y1/thursday/console

why don't people just recommend circuses and bread when they recommend dc to newbies? it's got everything and more. and its a perfect starting point.

^that's my next fave after the first 2.

Did LTM reissue Obey the Time? I only have the vinyl on Benelux. Is it worth buying for the bonus tracks? I should keep up with LTM more.

afaik 'obey the time', 'time was gigantic' and 'sex & death' are out of print, but all of them are easy to find s/hand

actually i've just realised pretty much all their factory stuff post-C&B is only floating about in factory once/too form

Hotel Of The Lake 1990 has been one of the songs I've started many dj set with. Maybe my favorite of his.

why am I the only person who thinks Another Setting is by far the best?

actually "time was gigantic" is pretty difficult to get secondhand... unless you want to pay a ton of cash for it. same is true for the factory CD reissue of "without mercy" and the limited CD reissues of "live at the venue london" and "amigos em portugal." however, a lot of the other factory reissues like "return of..." and "LC" can be had for bargain prices even brand new. same is true for his post-nineties stuff... all readily available.

a dozen great tracks to sample from a variety of albums, in no particular order:

1. "the missing boy" from LC - the chorus of this song breaks my heart every time
2. "conduct" from the return of... - on headphones this song can still make me walk into trees at the park at around the two minute mark
3. "street fight/royal infirmary" from bread and circuses (reissue is called circuses and bread, but is the same) - he's the best guitarist in the world maybe, but when combined with such piano, he is devastating. i love how this song only really gives you the chorus once, forcing you to relisten to the whole track
4. "the together mix" - available on the obey the time reissue, i think, originally a 12"? - 90s happy mondays-like thing, looped vocal a la tom's diner, fantastic
5. "vigil" from somebody else's party - never heard a song that better expressed how it feels when someone close to you dies, maybe my favorite song by him ever
6. "shooting" from tempus fugit - tony wilson thinks he should never sing, but i can't imagine the durutti column without vocal tracks like this one. he's a bit like new order, the lyrics are sometimes utterly childish, you can see the rhymes coming from miles away, but then he'll amaze you with it
7. "love song on quattro" from tempus fugit - he does a lot of spanish guitar sounding stuff like this these days, and i think it's great.
8. "silent nite" from the return of the sporadic recordings - eerie, lady singing, snowing probably
9. "spent time" from another setting - i don't like this album, but it's got good stuff on it, they all do
10. "never known" from LC and "never known version" from sunlight to blue... - he loves to do certain songs over and over again. "shooting" up there at #6 is another version of "longsight romance" from rebellion.

Perhaps it'd be good to start with these three albums to get a good sampling: LC, Vini Reilly, and Someone Else's Party?

I left out a lot from that list, too... I don't even own Sex and Death or Time was Gigantic. Oh yeah, probably best to avoid "Love in the Time of Recession" and "Rebellion" to begin with. Not saying they aren't good, just not a good intro.

thanks for the tips good ppls

now the problem is that the list of starting point suggestions is almost as large as the back catalogue

Hi everyone! Please help me! Could anybody put here the lyrics of song "Vigil"? I would really appreciate it!!! Thanks in advance!

Robert from Hungary

Curiously, Someone Else's Party is one of the few DC albums I don't own.

The new '4 Men w/ Beards' reissue of LC doesn't include 'For Belgian Friends', anyone know why this is?

It wasn't on the original release either. It was a single released on Crepescule or whatever, iirc. Maybe they didn't get the rights. What is on that reissue? Why not just get the Factory Too reissue?

what is the purpose of the 4MWB re-issue, is the kooky box not good enough?

http://pantry.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/for-belgian-friends/

says it was released between albums.

For Mimi, For Belgian Friends and Self-Portrait were on the A Factory Quartet double LP along with Kevin Hewick, Blurt and the Royal Family and the Poor.

Ok, Robert From Hungary, here's my stab at the lyrics. Interesting song. I can't make them all out but this is a good bit of it.

Vigil

put some sounds in the walkman
and take a walk around
and i have never heard
such an emptiness in sound

theres a screaming tight?
their rockets on stretching?
make myself a drink
take a sip start watching

even though the hurdles smoke
on an isolation trip
force myself to eat
but i know i'm getting sick

i came here like a partner
ready for a fight
drown my lovers coffee
and settle for the night

? over broken people
foretelling their own deaths
listened in the darkness
to someone fighting for her breath

compressed air is hissing
hissing in the wing
i don't believe in anything
but i'm praying for a friend

put some sounds in the walkman
take a walk around
and I have never heard
such an intumescent(?) sound

nerves are screaming tight
the rack (rot?) keeps on stretching
make myself a drink
take a sip, start retching

given up the herbal smoke
on an isolation trip
force myself to eat
but I know I'm getting sick

I came in like a hard man
ready for a fight
drank my lover's(?) coffee
and settled for the night

(?) with broken people
foretelling their own deaths
listening in the darkness
to someone fighting for her breath

compressed air is hissing
pissing in the wind
I don't believe in anything
but I'm praying for a friend

Thanks both of you (brotherlovesdub and the girl from spirea x (f. hazel))! :) Keep on living the spirit! All the best, Robert

"otis" has turned up on a few mixes i've listened to lately and i'm smitten. at least one version has had drum machines under it. are there remixes out there or was the dj doing this?

For your hacienda party, you should check out the Together Mix, which Jeremy turned me onto just in time for Fac Off.

there was a great mix of Otis and another track on bbc radio done for Tony Wilson I think. Can't remember who/what/when but I know it was great. :)

ya, if this is what you're talking about, this is what i heard it on
http://www.resonatormag.com/2007/09/10/tony-wilson-tribute-mix

dan, which mix?

o, i know what you're talking about, this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSpLcTXGkso

This thread inspired me to put on the 2cd career-spanning comp I've got for our dinner party last night. No one commented but I sure enjoyed it, especially "Sing To Me" with the gorgeous guest vocals.

Yea, it inspired me to play DC stuff too. Circuses and Bread is terrific and Another Setting is just about perfect.

One more request please... :-)

I would be really glad if someone shared the lyrics of "Tuesday"... Another favorite song of mine. Thanks!!!

Robert

Anyone?

I don't have Tuesday in my iTunes. What album is it on?

I started transcribing Tomorrow, which is one of my favs, but realized that wasn't what you wanted. The lyrics are pretty clear on Tomorrow anyway.

Ah, ok, it's on Keep Breathing. I have that one on CD but haven't ripped it yet.

Tuesday - Keep Breathing - 2006

I don't mind who you're waking with this morning
it's not the ...? sounds that i hear calling
no senselessness of waking dreams still forming
it's just the fight is over
i know you've gone

i still feel you
i can feel you
i can feel you
i still feel you

so i get up,
i get on with my day
and i'm not broken up
i don't wish
and i don't pray
and if we met
there'd be nothing there to say
it's just i wish
i'd tried to make you stay

i still feel you
i can feel you
i can feel you
i still feel you

i don't wake up
expect to see your smile
and i don't mind
you've gone so many miles
and i hope that you've kept your sense of style
i just still love you
so it's gonna take a while

Tomorrow is definitely one of my faves. I've even got the 12".

Thank you very much brotherlovesdub! Anyway, You're right, the lyrics are basically clear, but there were some parts I couldn't figure out exactly... So thank you! Magical song...