Durutti Column:
LC:
Factory Benelux:
2xLP (issued in 2016) / 2xCD (issued in 2013):
Out now:
Originally released at the tail-end of 1981, LC (translated, it means Lotta Continua, 'the struggle continues') heralded something of a radical departure for Vini Reilly, the driving force behind The Durutti Column, alongside drummer Bruce Mitchell - it had the guitarist exercising his vocal-chords for the first time. This practice divided admirers, not least Factory Records guru Tony Wilson who notably tried to keep Vini away from singing and instead concentrate on his magical fret-work. On LC though, he might have missed the point - rarely since this album has Reilly sounded so fragile and so poignant, making LC something of a must-have with the best of both worlds for most DC aficionados.
For this latest reissue, the recently-revived Factory Benelux imprint has gathered the original album, given it a remastering and added not only a few extra tracks on the end, but an entire bonus disc crammed with very rare outtakes and compilation tracks from the era. It's as definitive as you can get and covers Reilly's tireless but engaging output recorded over a two-year period from 1980 to 1982.
LC itself still sounds curiously fresh to this day - the opening song, Sketch For Dawn, is one of Reilly's most atmospheric pieces from this era and, along with the Ian Curtis tribute track, Missing Boy, is one of his most familiar. Other songs include a retake of Sketch For Dawn (part 2 - not as seemless) and the chilling and unsettling Never Known, possibly one of Vini's eeriest selections with its weird effects and random beat-box. Of the instrumentals, Jacqueline and The Act Committed are supreme, Messidor is reflective and organic, featuring more Bruce Mitchell than most on here, while closing piano passage The Sweet Cheat Gone is a fitting epilogue. Technology doesn't extend much beyond the use of a Roland Space Echo drum machine which, when Bruce Mitchell isn't applying his adeptly brushed drums and without huge intrusion, bounces and patters around in ping-pong fashion.
The Sweet Cheat Gone isn't the curtain call on this newest LC - several tracks from hard-to-find and expensive-to-buy compilations enticingly fill the rest of disc one. The three Factory Quartet tracks are up there with his best - recorded with A Certain Ratio's Donald Johnson and producer Martin Hannett, it's the nearest Reilly and co come to producing any form of 'funk' (check Self Portrait - yes, you can dance to it!). As you'd expect, there are elements of dub and atmospherics throughout the three pieces, plus some deft tunes to boot. If you don't feel just a little emotional pang when hearing For Belgian Friends, you are officially dead from the brain down.
And so to disc two which also gathers up rare compilation tracks from Crepuscule collections such as Fruit of the Original Sin and From Brussels With Love, as well as a swathe of demos from the LC sessions, most of them longer, and a gaggle of EP pieces such as the gorky Piece of Out Of Tune Grand Piano (mercifully edited). One or two key songs appear including Reilly's Ian Curtis tribute with ACR's Jez Kerr (Sleep Will Come) and, perhaps his most underrated attempt at 'pop', Party. Who hasn't experienced the lyrical couplet, 'the girl that I came with, lying drunk on the floor', at some point in their muddled teenage years?
Overall, Factory Benelux have done this album proud, reproducing an important formative part of Reilly's history, right down to the pretty paintings commissioned by Mitchell's wife Jackie. Essential beyond words. The struggle still continues though - The Durutti Column's ouevre is still criminally ignored throughout the media but this reissue may go some way towards remedying this poor state of affairs.
2016 Update - A new remastered double-vinyl edition of LC has been commissioned and looks fantastic. Presented in a double gatefold sleeve on matt board with the Jackie Williams paintings and rare photos and tweaked sleevenotes, this latest version expands upon the original pressing with TWO bonus records. The first is of album length and features tracks from the Danny/Enigma single, the three Factory Quartet tracks, Deux Triangles excerpts, the exemplary Experiment in Fifth and an impressive and extended outtake, Portrait for Paul. The extra 7" disc included features rare live recordings of Sketch For Summer and Requiem for a Father.
A pity there was no space for the rare Mavuchka from foreign pressings but this is a minor quibble (you can find it on the CD though) - with the sun streaming in through the windows or rain lashing down on the roof, LC truly remains a companion sketch for summers and Vini Reilly's most thoughtful work.
★★★★★★★★★★
LC:
Factory Benelux:
2xLP (issued in 2016) / 2xCD (issued in 2013):
Out now:
For this latest reissue, the recently-revived Factory Benelux imprint has gathered the original album, given it a remastering and added not only a few extra tracks on the end, but an entire bonus disc crammed with very rare outtakes and compilation tracks from the era. It's as definitive as you can get and covers Reilly's tireless but engaging output recorded over a two-year period from 1980 to 1982.
LC itself still sounds curiously fresh to this day - the opening song, Sketch For Dawn, is one of Reilly's most atmospheric pieces from this era and, along with the Ian Curtis tribute track, Missing Boy, is one of his most familiar. Other songs include a retake of Sketch For Dawn (part 2 - not as seemless) and the chilling and unsettling Never Known, possibly one of Vini's eeriest selections with its weird effects and random beat-box. Of the instrumentals, Jacqueline and The Act Committed are supreme, Messidor is reflective and organic, featuring more Bruce Mitchell than most on here, while closing piano passage The Sweet Cheat Gone is a fitting epilogue. Technology doesn't extend much beyond the use of a Roland Space Echo drum machine which, when Bruce Mitchell isn't applying his adeptly brushed drums and without huge intrusion, bounces and patters around in ping-pong fashion.
The Sweet Cheat Gone isn't the curtain call on this newest LC - several tracks from hard-to-find and expensive-to-buy compilations enticingly fill the rest of disc one. The three Factory Quartet tracks are up there with his best - recorded with A Certain Ratio's Donald Johnson and producer Martin Hannett, it's the nearest Reilly and co come to producing any form of 'funk' (check Self Portrait - yes, you can dance to it!). As you'd expect, there are elements of dub and atmospherics throughout the three pieces, plus some deft tunes to boot. If you don't feel just a little emotional pang when hearing For Belgian Friends, you are officially dead from the brain down.
And so to disc two which also gathers up rare compilation tracks from Crepuscule collections such as Fruit of the Original Sin and From Brussels With Love, as well as a swathe of demos from the LC sessions, most of them longer, and a gaggle of EP pieces such as the gorky Piece of Out Of Tune Grand Piano (mercifully edited). One or two key songs appear including Reilly's Ian Curtis tribute with ACR's Jez Kerr (Sleep Will Come) and, perhaps his most underrated attempt at 'pop', Party. Who hasn't experienced the lyrical couplet, 'the girl that I came with, lying drunk on the floor', at some point in their muddled teenage years?
Overall, Factory Benelux have done this album proud, reproducing an important formative part of Reilly's history, right down to the pretty paintings commissioned by Mitchell's wife Jackie. Essential beyond words. The struggle still continues though - The Durutti Column's ouevre is still criminally ignored throughout the media but this reissue may go some way towards remedying this poor state of affairs.
2016 Update - A new remastered double-vinyl edition of LC has been commissioned and looks fantastic. Presented in a double gatefold sleeve on matt board with the Jackie Williams paintings and rare photos and tweaked sleevenotes, this latest version expands upon the original pressing with TWO bonus records. The first is of album length and features tracks from the Danny/Enigma single, the three Factory Quartet tracks, Deux Triangles excerpts, the exemplary Experiment in Fifth and an impressive and extended outtake, Portrait for Paul. The extra 7" disc included features rare live recordings of Sketch For Summer and Requiem for a Father.
A pity there was no space for the rare Mavuchka from foreign pressings but this is a minor quibble (you can find it on the CD though) - with the sun streaming in through the windows or rain lashing down on the roof, LC truly remains a companion sketch for summers and Vini Reilly's most thoughtful work.
★★★★★★★★★★