A Life of Reilly – The Durutti Column – James Nice – Book Review

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Album Review: The Durutti Column - Short Stories for Pauline

What should have been the fourth Durutti Column album in 1983 was shelved on the advice of Tony Wilson. It finally came out in 2012.  On the evidence of this, the album was hidden away too long.  It opens with classic, forlorn Vini Reilly guitar lines on At First Sight. Plus, you should hear him play piano, as he does on this and the arrestingly beautiful Duet.  This latter track is a piano and viola duet, courtesy of violinist Blaine Reininger, and has an almost operatic, Italian feel.  At two and a half minutes long, it's lamentably short, yet at the same time there is not a note wasted.  It's a highpoint in Reilly's catalogue.

 

College features more violin, while Invitations is piano dominated. Yet everything is framed by Reilly's otherworldly guitar.  On this album his guitar lines take on a more romantic, faraway feel than usual.  Eric Sleichim's saxophone makes a not entirely welcome entrance on Destroy, She Said and later on Cocktail and Mirror B.  On the other hand Model is an unadorned throwback to Reilly's earliest material. 

 

Vini Reilly introduces his gentle vocals to Take Some Time Out, while lofty keyboards join his voice on A Silence.  The aforementioned Pauline sings on Mirror A.  The album is one of Reilly's strongest, with other instruments enhancing rather than overwhelming it.  Wilson, what were you thinking?

Album Review: The Durutti Column - Vini Reilly

By 1989 Vini Reilly was really mixing it up, throwing in all manner of instrumentation along with his distinctive guitar playing.  His brand of guitar playing had featured on Morrissey's debut album, Viva Hate.  But titling The Durutti Column's album of that year after himself led more to confusion than anything else.

Still, the music contained within remained faithful to Reilly's 'sound'.  Although opening track Love No More features operatic warbling, the track's melody betrays a latent Morrissey influence.  Opera I & II, and William B also feature operatic singing over Reilly's guitar with the addition of gorgeous keyboards.

There are 13 tracks on the album proper (plus an additional 8 on the reissue), and with so many tracks not all of them will work.  The vaguely funky workout People's Pleasure Park.  The centrepiece is the nine minute long sprawling Finding the Sea, which may prove a barrier to some's enjoyment of the album.  The track, though enjoyable, avoids structure in favour of a multi-part kitchen sink approach, throwing in opera singing, keyboards, percussion, guitar, some of it conjuring up Ry Cooder of all people, before John Metcalfe's viola takes the track in a darker direction.

Acoustic guitars make an appearance here too on They Work Every Day and the highly successful Spanish guitar piece Homage to Catalonia.  Perhaps the most broody and atmospheric piece is saved for the shimmering mesh of guitar and keyboards on penultimate track Requiem Again.  There's still time for Vini Reilly's whispered vocals on final track My Country.

While not all of it works, what DOES makes this a very satisfying listen.

Album Review: The Durutti Column - LC

Vini Reilly’s second album as The Durutti Column came out in 1981.  It was very much a continuation of the almost supernatural aesthetic of previous album The Return Of with the addition of Reilly's ghostly, unobtrusive vocals on certain tracks (Sketch for Dawn I & II, Never Known, The Missing Boy).  Isolating individual tracks here is not easy, much of the album is composed of Reilly’s unhurried guitar noodling, accompanied by minimal, electronic percussion.

That’s not to say there aren’t strong melodies here – Messidor and Never Known both echo Sketch for Summer (from The Return of the Durutti Column).  Final track The Sweet Cheat Gone avoids guitar altogether, replaced by piano.  If you’re a fan of conventional verse/chorus songs, this album isn’t for you.  If however, you enjoy more abstract guitar compositions would recommend checking this or its predecessor out.

 

Album Review: Morrissey – Viva Hate

This was Morrissey’s first solo album, released in the aftermath of the Smiths’ split. In these pre-internet days of 1988 I was somewhat taken aback that he had regrouped so quickly and was a little worried about the quality of the writing.

I needn’t have bothered worrying, the album is stronger than it has any right to be. He had been working with erstwhile Smiths producer Stephen Street, and guitar genius Vini Reilly (of Durutti Column). The album kicks off with the heavy Alsatian Cousin, which followed on nicely from heavier Smiths tracks like I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish. There is some wonderful imagery here – “leather elbows on a tweed coat, oh is THAT the best you can do?” After the vaguely Spanish sounding ode to a forgotten TV star Little Man, What Now? (Morrissey loves to throw in commas in his song titles!) came one of his most popular and enduring singles, Everyday Is Like Sunday, with soaring strings and an uplifting melody, sort of in the vein of There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

Bengali in Platforms was criticised at the time for some semi-racist overtones but the tune itself is pleasant enough, and following track Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together is a pleasing bit of melodrama that some interpreted as an ode to Johnny Marr. Not that Morrissey would ever admit it.

Album centrepiece Late Night, Maudlin Street is a seven minute epic tale of growing up, late night brushes with the law, and moving house. It features classic self-loathing Morrissey lyrics (“when the world’s ugliest boy became what you see, here I am, the ugliest man”, amongst many others) and some lovely piano (Street) and guitar touches from Reilly. When this was released, I actually was “moving house” and did feel like “a half-life was disappearing.”

After the poppy single Suedehead the album takes a bit of a dip in quality. Break Up the Family is quite pleasing though with some nice guitar over some bongos and a great vocal performance by Morrissey. Here shades of optimism take over in the lyrics – “I’m so glad to grow older, to move away from those darker years.” The next 2 tracks are comparably weak, The Ordinary Boys being a piano-led song without a very good tune basically, while I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me is basically a watered down version of the Smiths’ You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby.

Dial-A-Cliché is great, with some lovely guitar lines and a nice bit of French horn, while closing track Margaret On the Guillotine brings Morrissey’s loathing of Thatcher to its logical conclusion. It’s a simple enough tune and lyrics that leave nothing to the imagination (“when will you die”). The song continues for a bit with some nice guitar touches before ending abruptly with the aforementioned guillotine.

Album Review: The Return of the Durutti Column

The Durutti Column is the work of guitar virtuoso Vini Reilly, aided by legendary Joy Division producer Martin Hannett. This album, released in 1980, was his first, and is the only one I am really familiar with, but it’s a small hours classic. The first track, Sketch for Summer starts off with the sound of birds chirping, and leads into a rhythm track with a wonderfully spooky electric guitar echoing though it. These seemingly disparate elements mix into a hugely engaging track. This sets the template for the rest of this entirely instrumental album which follows in a similar vein, delicate electric guitar, minimal rhythm tracks and occasional keyboards. Sketch for Winter is a slight departure, featuring Reilly’s guitar on its own.

(Note: vocals do feature on one of the extra tracks, Sleep Will Come, though they are unobtrusive and don’t break up the flow.)

It’s the perfect soundtrack to driving around on a Monday night at about 2am in the depths of winter. Imagined or otherwise. Unfortunately, it seems to be impossible to get anywhere, so grab it if you see it.