Durutti Column: classic or dud

The Japanese live album, Domo Arigato, came out on vhs years and years ago, there must be a conversion of it floating around. I also have seen a few files on torrent sites before, Fado Music Festival 1991 is one of them.

Durutti mania up in here. I'm listening to LC and actually enjoying it quite a bit, which is weird. I was always kinda disappointed in this album.
I remember a local television station that sampled a bit of this for their in between breaks. Brilliant.

disappointed by LC? does not compute

Song they sampled was "Jaqueline", I mean.

xpost

Yeah I'm not understanding why I was disappointed in it yet, either. Maybe it will become clear later.

Has anyone heard the Thieves Like Us song on the Kitsune Maison 4 comp? It's made more or less entirely from a sample of "Sketch for Summer" (I think, anyway; it's definitely something off the first album) and I'm not really sure what I think of it yet.

Colin Sharpe wrote the book "Who killed Martin Hannett?" and is described as 'his best friend' on the cover. (tbf, that may not have been his idea to call himself that)

It seems he was drafted in at the last minute to replace the previously sacked singer, so may not be the guy in the early DC pics. His task was also to write lyrics for the two pieces so far written, "No Communication" and "Thin Ice" (of which Alan Erasmus added a few bits too). After the further split (Mothmen that way, Colin and Vini this way), they did a few gigs together but basically packed it. About a year after the Factory sample, if I recall right, Vini and Martin did the album.

Actually, if they stripped the vocal off those tracks, they'd be fine as actual DCol tracks anyway: Thin Ice (detail) particularly.

That was a fine post, Mark! I had forgotten about the Mothmen connection. I shall have to play those two DC tracks now, I love them so much. I don't mind his vocals, either.

I had great fun last night with the Hannnett produced bonus tracks on the "LC" CD. I've long thought "Belgian Friends" was an especially exceptional song (like top 5 Vini for me), but I took a closer listen to the likes of "For Mimi" & "Self-Portrait" and wow, blew my hair back. I started seriously wondering if Mr. Hannett might have contributed to the bass lines on the latter. They seemed so much in his style of playing. Still the liner notes say Vini wrote these songs entirely, so who knows?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N-8lrlZx0g

i've got a copy of the Durutti Column live in tokyo (Domo Arigato) on dvd. it's fantastic. actually beats newOrder's 85 japanese dvd by a long shot.

I shall have to seek that out. I believe I might know where to get one of those, actually.

In the meantime I can't believe I neglected to post this one the other night, one of my major top 5 or 6 Durutti tracks here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhzG_3d7aM

Fuck me, that takes me back. That was my first exposure to Durutti, seeing that on "The Tube" in early '85. Thank you!

Okay I've got the Domo Arigato on DVD now and I must say I'm not all that thrilled with it. The main problem is the trumpet and sometimes the violin are too far up in the mix. I want to hear more of Vini's keyboards & guitar. Some songs it works out okay on, though...

I mean I never had any problem with these instruments on the "Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say" EP, but there's a proper place for them in the mix and this isn't it.

"Belgian Friends" on keyboards is sweet, though. Yikes.

And the weird thing is that just before "The Missing Boy" started, I heard that riff in my head and prayed it would be the next song and it was. Sigh. I mean we've all affirmed that Vini is a genius, right? Have we established this yet?

Goose pimples on my flesh when he starts in with the "same old order" bit. What is the deal with his fingernails? Is he playing with this fingernails? The brilliance is blinding. I've definitely never heard a better version of "The Missing Boy". And yes I know it was written for Ian Curtis, you wankers.

And yes I know it was written for Ian Curtis, you wankers.

He was in Joy Division.

Truth be told, I'm totally insane over "Self-Portrait" now. There is this part in that song when the guitar note/key changes entirely from anything you might expect and it kills me. Let alone the Martin Hannett's production. I decided I had to have this on vinyl. Cost me a fortune but I can't live until I have that on vinyl and can hear it on headphones. I will get to have "Belgian Friends" on vinyl too! What a thrill!

Still there are more great tracks..."Danny", "One Christmas For Your Thoughts"...

Haha! xpost

I thought you meant to say Vini Reilly was in Joy Division, Rocket Scientist! Hah.

No, I just thought that since you kept us from telling you it was about Ian Curtis, I would tell you something else you already know.

Heheh! Hey it's all good!

the DC song that Tony Wilson's ex-wife sings

which song is this?

i get along without you very well

it has now been reissued! (on the LTM 'circuses and bread')

Anyone heard the new album yet? Any thoughts?

geez... it only seems like a few months since the last one..

looking forward to it though...

Can I just say, and I'm sorry if I said it before...

"Silence" is one of my favourite songs by anyone ever since the beginning of time. "You Don't Say What You Mean/You Don't Mean What You Say". Top 5 fucking songs ever for me, I think.

That song kept me sane as a young teenager when I was in hospital. It's likely to bring tears to my eyes. One day soon I'll get the gumption to post the sleeve to my blog.

Can't believe 'black horses' hasn't been mentioned in this thread. So gorgeous.

walked through shin deep snow all over Cap. Hill and Volunteer Park listening to Durutti Column yesterday. perfect! tony wilson was right, Durutti Column are due a reassessment. Vini Reilly is at the very top of my list of musicians to see in concert before they die.

Yeah, that would really be something to see him, wouldn't it? I've thought the same thing before, but I just don't think he ever comes over to the U.S.

Of course one can travel but I'm not currently in a position to do that, so...

I listened to his mid-'90s album Sex and Death the other day, what a gorgeous overlooked gem of a record that is!

kooky are remastering/reissuing the first four albums as a box set - good chance to get without mercy easily on disc for the first time in a good while

http://www.kookydisc.co.uk/2009_02_01_archive.html#3761157670806880963

Already have the first four albums but the demos and live stuff are bound to be interesting.

Fuck me, he's hard to keep up with, isn't he? I seem to have missed an album recently (Sunlight to Blue ...) but I've just got Love In The Time of Recession and the Wilson song is something else entirely. Wow.

Just checked out parts of "guitar and other" on Sptfy, mmmmm......

I actually prefer Sunlight to Blue over Love In the Time of Recession but the Tribute to Anthony is the best song on both discs.

Just checked out parts of "guitar and other" on Sptfy, mmmmm......

Now we're talking.

This is amazing, and it's from their 2006 album

So down for live tracks from the Without Mercy period.

box out tomorrow..

http://cerysmaticfactory.info/the_durutti_column_four_factory_albums.html

are these different masters than the last remasters?

different to the ones on factory once yes

I'm sure glad I don't have ears good enough to usually notice the difference! The factory ones had some useful bonus tracks like the Amigos en Portugal record tacked on.

where oh where to start?

the song posted above (it's wonderful) came up as a related video on youtube as i was searching for a certain ratio tracks to compare studio to

never heard much of this band but it seems like something i would like. is there a best of or can someone prod me towards a primer?

thanks

It's a bit of an obvious choice, but my favourite from end-to-end has always been Vini Reilly. There's masses of amazing stuff on the other albums, but that's the one I return to most. The "best of" upthread is pretty decent too as a primer.

Also, whenever this thread gets revived I feel compelled to listen to Vini's opening riff on Morrissey's "Suedehead" because it is A+++.

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.