STYLE...... Folk Rock, Modern Classical, Avantgarde, Art Rock, Ambient, Abstract, Experimental
LABEL...... Kooky Records
REL.DATE... 12-11-2009
A 6CD set containing the re-issue of the first four albums by the Durutti Column. Originally released on Factory Records label between 1980 and 1984, these albums have been carefully re-mastered from the original master tapes, which had been thought to be lost along with the demise of Factory in the mid 1990's. Ironically these had been stored along with many other tapes at Tony Wilson's home and were passed on for this release by his son Oliver. This six CD box set is limited to 1175 copies and comprises of: Four fully re-mastered albums: 1. The Return Of The Durutti Column, 2. LC, 3. Another Setting, 4. Without Mercy, plus two limited bonus CDs only available as part of this boxset; 5. Unreleased: demos, versions and outtakes from the period,6. Live: previously unreleased live recordings from London, Glasgow, and Brighton 82/84. The package also includes extensive liner notes and interviews with the key protagonists from the period. Only available from Independent stores and very limited. Albums re-mastered from the original tapes by Keir Stewart. RETURN OF THE DURUTTI COLUMN All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Martin Hannett. Recorded at Cargo, Rochdale. Engineered by John Brierley. Mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. LC All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Vini Reilly and Stewart Pickering. Recorded and Mixed at Graveyard Studios, Prestwich. Engineered by Stewart Pickering. ANOTHER SETTING All songs written by Vini Reilly. Recorded and mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Engineered by Chris Nagle. WITHOUT MERCY All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Anthony Wilson and Michael Johnson. Recorded at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Engineered by Michael Johnson; assisted by Tim Dewey and Nigel Beverley. Mixed at Britannia Row, London. DEMOS / STUDIO All songs written by Vini Reilly. Compiled and mastered from studio and home demos at Far Heath Studios by Angus Wallace and at Kooky by Phil Cleaver. Thanks to Mike Mitchell. LIVE All songs written by Vini Reilly. Compiled and mastered from original cassette mixing desk dates at Kooky by Phil Cleaver. Special thanks to Bruce Mitchell for the source material. Liner notes written, and interviews conducted, by John Cooper. Archival album photography by Carsten Fleck. Designed by Steven Hankinson. / Kooky acknowledgements: Special thanks to Bryn, Iain, John and Simon (the 'kooky thinktank'); Bruce Mitchell and Mike Mitchell for the live and demo material; Oli Wilson for assistance in providing the original masters; Emma and Alison. Extra special thanks to John Cooper, John Cox, Darren Crawford, Steven Hankinson and Kerry Wadsworth for making this happen very well very quickly. Vini Reilly acknowledgements: Thank you for keeping the ship afloat Mr Bruce Mitchell Esq. (The Gonzo Drum Master), Mr Keir Stewart for enabling Vini to record and producing beyond the call of duty, Brosci (the 5th member of The Durutti Column), all of Bruce's family, all of my family, all of Poppy's family (contributions from Kate and Ruby), Michael Pitrick for hairstyle, Phil Cleaver and Emma, Alex McMurtrie, John Cooper, Gary at Sounds Great, Damian my doctor, Joanne Ingleby (dental care), my harvest mouse (Sa Ding Ding), Mr Anthony H Wilson and extended family, Alan Erasmus, Les Thompson (and Jill), Laurie Laptop, Mark Prendergast (for forthcoming book), John Lennard and Savanna, Howard Sharrock (the great entrepreneur and friend) and Bruce Mitchell most of all - my best friend and the most superb drummer on the planet. "Alan introduced Tony to me. Tony came round to see me, never having heard me play. Alan brought Tony round three times before I finally agreed to take part and put a band together with other musicians. I insisted that I would have control and all kinds of ridiculous things, which was just silly." Vini Reilly explains in his most recent interview (for Scream City fanzine) how The Durutti Column was born. Alan was Alan Erasmus and Tony was Tony Wilson. In 1978 they were looking for a band their new record label, Factory Records. The Durutti Column featuring Vini Reilly, a classically-trained pianist and virtuoso guitarist, took their name from Spanish revolutionary Buenaventura Durruti and the cartoon of Two Situationist Cowboys in the comic Le Retour De La Colonne Durutti (1966). Centred around Reilly, the then five-piece band recorded two tracks for FAC-2 A Factory Sample, the first ever music release on Factory Records. Vini, not happy with the band or the punk-styled recording, then walked out because it was "complete and total rubbish". Alan and Tony persuaded Vini to return, saying "you are The Durutti Column" and the rest is history. To this day, The Durutti Column is still essentially Vini Reilly. But whilst he is the constant, legendary Manchester musician, nay institution, Bruce Mitchell (ex-Alberto Y Trios Lost Paranoias) has been the drummer since the seminal album LC (1981). A succession of other guests has augmented the line-up over the years, notably John Metcalfe (The Duke Quartet), Tim Kellett (Olive, Simply Red) and Keir Stewart (Durutti producer and more since 1997). Always at the forefront of technology thanks to Factory's innovative (but sometimes misguided policies), The Durutti Column released the first cd-only popular music album with their Domo Arigato (1985) live album recorded live in Tokyo. Factory predicted "No vinyl within 5 years" but what did they know!? Later, The Guitar and Other Machines (1988) was the first ever commercially available album to be released on Digital Audio Tape. Perversely it was also promoted with a 7" flexi-disc - a relic of a bygone age. In 1995, the Factory Too album Sex and Death also appeared in interactive CD-ROM format. More recently, and keeping up their record of having appeared on every incarnation of Factory Records, their debut for Tony Wilson's all-too-shortlived F4 Records, was the digital download-only E.P. Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) (2004). The launch of this release was celebrated with a live webcast of a gig from Shetland. Throughout it all, musical experimentation has always been the keynote of The Durutti Column's music. Able to flit from Classical on Without Mercy (1984) to House on Obey The Time (1990) via Opera on Vini Reilly (1990), it has never been possible to pin Vin down. Famously, he did some sterling work on Morrissey's debut album Viva Hate. But, when asked to work on the follow-up, he declined because Morrissey didn't want to take it to the next level, to experiment.
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