Needle Time

  The Durutti Column - LC [23JAL-2 JPN 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] About eleven months back, I posted my rip of the extended Factory Benelux 2016 vinyl remaster of this album. That version sounds fine however I felt the digital compression applied for this release had spoilt the true dynamics of what is essentially a home recording by one of Britain's finest guitarists. My original UK pressing is showing its age, so I reached out and found a mint condition original Japanese pressing. I firmly believe that this is the best sounding version of this album with an ultra quiet vinyl pressing. As today is the forty-second year anniversary of its release, I worthy posting was needed. Brian Eno has gone on record, and like many other musician,s has stated that LC is his all-time favourite album. LC was recorded on a home TEAC 4-track tape recorded with Bruce Mitchell on percussion and Reilly playing everything else. The album was first released on Factory Records (FACT 44) on November 4...

  Various Artists - A Factory Quartet [FACT 24 UK 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Time now for a brand new rip of an old ESWA favourite.... The second Factory Records sampler was originally planned as a double 10" set, but thankfully the label settled on this beautifully packaged double album with an embossed polaroid-style Garrod & Lofthouse sleeve.  Like the first 7" sampler, each artist gets one side of vinyl to introduce themselves, though The Durutti Column had already appeared on the label, this was Vini Reilly with a different line-up. The diversity of the chosen artists is huge, ranging from the ethereal beauty of The Durutti Column, through the distorted jazz-rock of Blurt, to scouser dirge noise terrorists The Royal Family And The Poor. Kevin Hewick supplies a difficult mix of live sets, where perhaps his 1980 Graveyard sessions would have fitted better, but as history says, he never got to finish five songs (with New Order), Hewick has dined out on Haystack for ye...

  The Durutti Column - Time Was Gigantic... When We Were Kids [FAC 2.31 UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] When Factory Records folded, following a well-publicised & somewhat shady deal with London Records (we've all seen the movie, right?),Vini Reilly found himself on a major record label. After 1994's excellent Sex And Death , Britain's finest guitarist of his generation released one of his most eclectic & shimmering works, Time Was Gigantic... When We Were Kids in 1997. Up until this year, this album has only been made available as a compact disc, at last we have a vinyl pressing to help us appreciate the full acoustic experience of this album. The blend of Reilly's unique guitar sound, his synthetic orchestrations & calming ambiance, Bruce Mitchell's tribal percussion and the sweet, sweet voice of Eley Rudge will enthrall every listener. I know that it's likely that I have said this about other Vini Reilly albums before, but maybe this really is The ...

  The Durutti Column - Lips That Would Kiss [FACBN 2-005 BEL 1980 24-Bit FLAC] The first single by The Durutti Column needed a re-rip & upgrade from my 2019 post on these very pages. Despite its age, this Belgian pressing ripped really well, I've resisted upping the volume to the brittle levels of recent remasters and maintained the aural experience of the original. Vini Reilly on guitars, Eric Random on beatbox & Martin Hannett on production present to you the gorgeous sounds of early Durutti Column. Written & recorded in the spring of 1980 at Cargo Studios in Rochdale, then mixed at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. Pressed in the low countries and released on Factory Benelux in 1980. A1   Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone) B1   Madeleine

  The Durutti Column - The Return Of The Durutti Column [FACT 14 ITA 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] An old favourite ...however slightly different and a brand new rip to boot. Effectively just Mancunian guitar virtuoso Vini Reilly and legendary producer Martin Hannet left to their own devices (bird tweets and treated drum machines) in Cargo Studios, Rochdale with occasional bass & drums from original Nosebleeds, Toby Toman and Pete Crooks. Most will know this record and its significance, if not why not?  Factory Records licensed their early releases through Base Records in Italy and for some reason the Italian label changed the running order on FACT14. They also injected the new Untitled track which didn't feature on the original UK sandpaper sleeve release. The album opens with Requiem For A Father rather than Sketch For Summer which is moved further down side A.  This pressing has some very long gaps between the tracks and a good clean with surfactant and the Hummin...

  The Durutti Column - Treatise On The Steppenwolf [FBN 63 UK RSD2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Treatise On The Steppenwolf was a performance piece adapted by Gerard McInulty - better known as Caesar from former Factory Records band The Wake, from Hermann Hesse's original book. The event was staged over three nights by The 12 Stars Theatre Company at The Tramway in Glasgow in 2003 and also featured The Wake's Carolyn Allen in the lead role (That's her on the cover). Vini Reilly's The Durutti Column provided a live soundtrack each evening, this double album features studio versions of those tracks, with the bonus of Human Avatars - three compositions for a 2005 art installation in Manchester of the same name. If performance art isn't your thing, fear not, this limited 1000 pressing for RSD2023 is all about the music, and it is some of Reilly's very best. In fact, these fifteen tracks shimmer beautifully in that unique Reilly-style and are filled with gorgeous famil...

  The Durutti Column - Live At The Venue London [VINI 1 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A few weeks back, I posted my rip of the Kooky Discs / Durutti Label repress of  Amigos Em Portugal , around the same time I had also ripped the label's 2016 remaster/repress of the limited & rare  Live At The Venue London album. Some of you asked me to post this, but I resisted because I had real concerns about the source used for that release. The spectrogram cut off at around 16kHz with literally nothing above that frequency. I also noticed two noise floors, one of which was clearly an extremely crackly old record. Concerned that this 'new remaster' was in fact from a lossy rip of a dirty and worn original vinyl, I gracefully backed out and abandoned the idea. The album was recorded raw from the desk at The Venue in Victoria, London on the 6th April 1982. It is just Vini Reilly and Bruce Mitchell on stage performing a nice set of Durutti classics from the first three albums, plu...

  The Durutti Column - LC [FBN 10 UK 2016 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Very likely Vini Reilly's best known album, LC was recorded on a TEAC 4-track with Bruce Mitchell on percussion and Reilly on everything else. The album was first released on Factory Records (FACT 44) in November 1981. This is the Factory Benelux expanded set, mastered from digital sources and reissued in 2016. LC features some of Reilly's signature work including his tribute to his friend Ian Curtis,  The Missing Boy . Fans of the guitarists work will already appreciate  Jacqueline and Sketch For Dawn and this rip gives us the chance to rediscover some of Vini's other great compositions such as Messidor and Never Known . The bonus tracks on this release are taken from The Factory Quartet set, featuring ACR's Donald Johnson on drums, a limited single for Sordide Sentimental and the  Deux Triangles EP, plus an extra 7" single of two live tracks. If you don't know  For Belgian Friends...

  The Durutti Column - Amigos Em Portugal [LOTTA001 UK 2016 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In 1983, Vini Reilly was invited by Miguel Esteves Cardoso to Portugal to record a single for small Portuguese independent label, Fundação Atlântica. In a matter of days, in a recording studio in the small town of Paço D'Arcos - armed with his guitar & drum machine, borrowing a local grand piano, Reilly recorded a full albums worth of material in a matter of a few days. This was subsequently released as the now hard to find album,  Amigos Em Portugal . The tracks on side two of the original album are called  Dedications For Jacqueline . Recorded after Reilly's Another Setting , these compositions revealed a shift towards classical elements in his composition but still his uniquely fluid guitar style shone through. In his return to Manchester, Tony Wilson was so enamored by these tracks that he persuaded Reilly to develop new works for Factory Records using extra musicians from...

  The Durutti Column - The City Of Our Lady [FAC 184 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Strangely I don't think I have ever ripped this single by Vini Reilly's Durutti Column, well until now that is. Released as this 12" vinyl with White Rabbit or a compact disc omitting the Jefferson Airplane cover, replacing it with a tricky and over-complicated remix of When The World from  The Guitar And Other Machines .  The a-side tracks were recorded in Hollywood, California with the late Stuart James on production duties and local lass Debi Diamond supplying the vocals to White Rabbit .  For those who prefer the less psychedelic and more god-like genius of Vini Reilly's guitar work, check out the stunning  Catos Con Guantes adorning the flipside, featuring Kiwi composer John Metcalfe on strings and long-time collaborator Bruce Mitchell on vibes. This track was recorded at Strawberry Studios with Morrissey's mate Steven Street. A1 Our Lady Of The Angels A2 White Rabbit ...

  The Durutti Column - The Guitar And Other Machines [FACT 204 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] You can quote me on my opinion that Another Setting is the best of a great bunch of early albums by The Durutti Column. If only the production standard was as high as later achievements, then I believe it would have been Vini Reilly's masterpiece. Four years later Reilly made friends with Stephen Street prior to their sessions for Morrissey's debut album, Viva Hate .  The Guitar And Other Machines was the first of three final albums for Factory Records, produced by Street at Strawberry Studios in Stockport and Peter Hook's Suite Sixteen in Rochdale, financed by Tony Wilson's cheque book ....and promoted by other marketing devices. The structure of this album follows much of that of Another Setting , where Reilly takes the listener of a journey through a wide variety of styles from the rock riffs of  Arpeggiator , a million miles from Prayer I should say, to gentle & atmospheric mel...

  The Durutti Column - Keep Breathing [DEMREC744 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] We haven't had any Vini Reilly recently, well at least for a few weeks anyway. Originally released in 2006 as a compact disc only, Keep Breathing was The Durutti Column's fifteenth studio album. Reilly was extremely productive during the post-Factory years with a number of albums shared out among the Kooky and Artful labels. Never originally received as his best, these albums did feature some wonderful tracks and the recent Demon Records double vinyl editions have given this fan the chance to reappreciate this period of work. This album does feature the the wonderful Maggie , which is one of my favourite DC tracks of all time and listening to the complete album, I have also had the chance to rediscover and enjoy other works such as Nina and It's Wonderful , the solemn yet melodic Big Hole and then of course there is the rare appearance of the Vini Reilly fuzz pedal on Waiting , which is a damn final c...

  The Durutti Column - Sex And Death [FBN 201 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Originally ever only released as a compact disc or a CD-Rom by Factory Too Records (FACD2.01) in 1994, Sex And Death is revered as one of the very best and most accessible Durutti Column albums. Produced by Stephen Street and featuring New Order's Peter Hook on bass, Martin Jackson (ex-Magazine and Swing Out Sister) & violinist turned composer/conductor John Metcalfe. This record is a thing of great beauty and your scribe snapped it up upon release on double vinyl at time of limited release. This is guitarist Vini Reilly's most creative period, after his work on the debut Morrissey solo album, the failing Factory Records were able to secure a deal through Warners for the talented guitarist. The first twelve tracks comprise the original CD tracks, remastered by Peter Beckman for his Technology Works studio. Beckman has breathed life into the original works without any unnecessary compression and musically t...

  The Durutti Column - Vini Reilly [FBN 244 2LP UK RSD2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on Factory Records LP (FACT 244) in March 1989. Factory Benelux expanded Vini Reilly to a double album with an extra 7" of the Morrissey out-take for RSD2020 in a limited edition of just 1000 copies. Given the demand for this hard to find album, I won't be surprised if it resurfaces again on vinyl in one combination or another.  Possibly the best album to reveal Reilly's skill as both a guitarist and a composer, his self-titled eighth album for the original Factory was notable was the breadth of samples used; borrowing segments of opera, blues and soul, the maestro adds a certain panache to the original compositions, keeping up with current trends from its 1989 time stamp. Otis clearly stands out among the eleven very special tracks on the original album. The extra tracks feature the Womad Live recordings which have been released so far, it would have been extra special if the lab...

  The Durutti Column - Rebellion [DEMREC 743 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] We were treated late last year when Demon reissued a swathe of Durutti Column albums on vinyl for the first time. I am not convinced that coloured vinyl was totally necessary - I am no fan of this rush to colour - however I picked them all up as any fan of Vini Reilly's gentle guitar would do.  Rebellion was originally released in 2001 on Artful via Universal on compact disc only. It represents a wide variety of styles with Vini working with two female vocalists and a rapper, although the less said about the rap track the better. I love the folky & psychedelic edges to this album, the cover of The Fields Of Athenry is sublime,  Voluntary Arrangement should be regarded as a Durutti classic and our Vini gets all psyched on the blistering instrumental  Meschugana . One of my issues with coloured vinyl, is that you cannot normally see how dirty it is - this record was covered in light blue dust...

  The Durutti Column - Another Setting [FBN 30 UK RSD2018 24-Bit FLAC] Allegedly in a limited edition of just 800 pressings, here is my rip from the double LP release for Record Store Day 2018. The main album (which is just as quietly mastered as the original) is pressed on standard black vinyl whereas the second live album is on clear vinyl. The live tracks were recorded at Pandora's Box Festival in Rotterdam on 4 September 1983. Not all the tracks from the set feature when compared to the bootleg cassettes in circulation from the VPRO radio broadcast of the gig. Here's what I had to say about the original album back on the old blog... Everybody should have their favourite Durutti Column album. I choose Another Setting . For me it is Reilly's most diverse and complex, it is ever so slightly pretentious with it's arty template sleeve design and ID magazine-style credits (Perfume by Jovan, and Clothes by Lucinda Byre), and because of the way Vini intertwines what is jus...

  The Durutti Column - Domo Arigato v2.0 (Live In Japan) [FBN 52 BEL 2017 24-Bit FLAC] If you were a keen Factory collector back in the mid-eighties, then it is likely that FACD 144 was amongst your first compact disc purchases - you may not even have owned the appropriate laser guided technology at the time on which to play this album!  The original Factory CD was recorded digitally by Tony Wilson & Nippon Columbia on the 25th April 1985, with the help of a rented mobile recording studio. This new vinyl version is restored from the original analogue soundboard tapes, so unless they had extra mikes in the enthusiastic Gotanda Kan’i Hoken Hall, Tokyo audience, I'd say the crowd noises were dubbed in. The original track running order is also resorted, however Blind Elevator Girl is left off, I assume for space reasons. Expect mostly a greatest hits set interspersed with Without Mercy era compositions. As a bonus, the double vinyl set also includes a repressing of the Japane...

  The Durutti Column - Without Mercy [FACT 84 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] It is a cold winter's Sunday evening here in western Europe, we lost what little sun we had around 4pm so the clear skies combined with dropping temperatures turn the still air into a foggy blanket. No better time to light a fire, pour yourself a contented glass of Scotland's finest distilled drink, put your feet up and reach for that original pressing of Without Mercy from the winter of 1984. Vini Reilly's most eclectic piece of work was rather self-indulgently commissioned by Anthony H. Wilson as his appreciation of classical music grew and the Factory Records boss wanted to hear how his label's best musician could work within the genre. The results are on the two sides of this album which form one lengthy thirty-eight minute piece for piano, guitar, violin/viola, trumpet & horns, cor anglais and cello.  British modern-classical composer, conductor and violinist John Metcalfe toured the album ext...

  The Durutti Column - Free From All The Chaos [LOTTA 003 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] A highly apt song title for 2020, I'd say. From a limited edition crystal clear seven inch single released in a small batch of 750, this year we got a one off Durutti Column single featuring the gently melancholic and innocent voice of Caoilfhionn Rose.  Free From All The Chaos originally featured on the Chronicle XL compact disc set released in 2014. The piano stabs are compressed & overly loud in the righthand channel on the CD release, however now we get the track as it needs to be heard, with all the atmospheric acoustics of the studio adding to the audio experience. Number Three on the flipside is previously unreleased and as you will no doubt be aware any unreleased Vini Reilly is always very welcome around these parts. A1 Free From All The Chaos B1 Number Three

  The Durutti Column - Idiot Savants [DEMREC 658 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] From pristine white vinyl comes the long awaited release The Durutti Column's Idiot Savants from 2007. When Factory Records collapsed, the prolific Vini Reilly had to scratch around for a label to distribute his work. After London/Universal lost interest, along came Fulfill, Artfull and Kooky, all of whom offered Reilly an output for his work on compact disc. The Factory reissues were left with LTM/Les Disques Du Crépuscule when Factory Too aborted, leaving eleven albums seeking vinyl. Demon Records have stepped up to the plate with this RSD2020 release, hopefully others will follow - I am especially looking forward to Sex And Death finally getting a vinyl release ....one day. Idiot Savants  has a slightly more psychedelic feel than his other long players, featuring the additional vocal & guitar skills of Poppy Roberts who contributes with her own composition, Gathering Dust . Well done also to the lab...