Durutti Column:
The Return Of The Durutti Column:
Factory Benelux:
Out Now:
★★★★★
A gloriously-packaged facsimile of Vini Reilly's debut album, originally released in a gritty sandpaper sleeve on the typically anarchic Factory Records (FACT 14), only this time with added protective die-cut sleeve and a bonus hard-vinyl 7", as opposed to a cheap flexi - seriously, what's not to like?
Actually, nothing - 'The Return Of The Durutti Column' is a benchmark, a landmark, a timeless template by which all of Reilly's successive works have subsequently, rightly or wrongly, been judged.
The music hasn't been tampered with - it sounds as fresh, carefree, elegiac, intimate and otherworldly as it did when first issued 34 years ago, a playground for the precocious talents of the creative guitarist and his engineering stooge Martin Hannett, whose pulsating synth footprint compliments the pastoral vignettes, rather than hampers them. Sketch For Summer (and Winter), Conduct, Jazz, Requiem For a Father - they're here in all their understated original beauty, with the added bonus of both sides of the single Lips That Would Kiss and the superior Madeleine, coupled to the end of side two. Both prove to be perfect bed-partners for the preceding tracks, with pin-sharp melodies and itchy, shuffly beat-boxes present and correct.
On the 7", you get the two buzzing instrumental snippets recorded by Martin Hannett, a pair of rare glimpses into the mind of a man often referred to as the North West's Phil Spector and now sounding less like a journey through a frying pan full of bacon - no more shonky flexi, hello remastered vinyl.
Hannett was more of a Joe Meek figure, a man hell-bent on investigating the extremities of sound, be it organically or with a box of tricks and the 'aspects' here, while not easy-listening, do demonstrate the man's propensity for ominous frequencies and the occasionally unsettling 'hum'.
Informative sleeve-notes include a typically self-effacing quote from the album's curator thus: "... It took me years to realize that what Martin had done was to give the album...an identity.. otherwise it would have just been a few guitar tunes.."
But, what tunes they are. This limited release is perfect for any music-lover vaguely interested in music and art in its purest form. Although the album has been reissued a few times before, by Factory (as a boxed cassette and a Dufy-sleeved standard vinyl), London (as an incomplete mid-price CD) and Kooky (as part of a limited box-set), this new vinyl edition is a triumph and a labour of love on the part of the artists and the label. You see? You'd never get this much joy from a lousy download, however much space you want to save. A contender for Reissue Of The Year.
Get it from Factory Benelux
The Return Of The Durutti Column:
Factory Benelux:
Out Now:
★★★★★
Actually, nothing - 'The Return Of The Durutti Column' is a benchmark, a landmark, a timeless template by which all of Reilly's successive works have subsequently, rightly or wrongly, been judged.
The music hasn't been tampered with - it sounds as fresh, carefree, elegiac, intimate and otherworldly as it did when first issued 34 years ago, a playground for the precocious talents of the creative guitarist and his engineering stooge Martin Hannett, whose pulsating synth footprint compliments the pastoral vignettes, rather than hampers them. Sketch For Summer (and Winter), Conduct, Jazz, Requiem For a Father - they're here in all their understated original beauty, with the added bonus of both sides of the single Lips That Would Kiss and the superior Madeleine, coupled to the end of side two. Both prove to be perfect bed-partners for the preceding tracks, with pin-sharp melodies and itchy, shuffly beat-boxes present and correct.
On the 7", you get the two buzzing instrumental snippets recorded by Martin Hannett, a pair of rare glimpses into the mind of a man often referred to as the North West's Phil Spector and now sounding less like a journey through a frying pan full of bacon - no more shonky flexi, hello remastered vinyl.
Hannett was more of a Joe Meek figure, a man hell-bent on investigating the extremities of sound, be it organically or with a box of tricks and the 'aspects' here, while not easy-listening, do demonstrate the man's propensity for ominous frequencies and the occasionally unsettling 'hum'.
Informative sleeve-notes include a typically self-effacing quote from the album's curator thus: "... It took me years to realize that what Martin had done was to give the album...an identity.. otherwise it would have just been a few guitar tunes.."
But, what tunes they are. This limited release is perfect for any music-lover vaguely interested in music and art in its purest form. Although the album has been reissued a few times before, by Factory (as a boxed cassette and a Dufy-sleeved standard vinyl), London (as an incomplete mid-price CD) and Kooky (as part of a limited box-set), this new vinyl edition is a triumph and a labour of love on the part of the artists and the label. You see? You'd never get this much joy from a lousy download, however much space you want to save. A contender for Reissue Of The Year.
Get it from Factory Benelux