Sketch For Vini 2

A month ago I put together an hour long mix of Durutti Column songs, fifteen of what Vini Reilly refers to as his 'silly tunes' (on the other hand when stopped at customs at some point in the past and asked by the border official what sort of music he plays he replied 'nu- classical modern jazz' so he can dress it up as well as dress it down). The songs on the first mix were all from the 1980s, from his first flourish with Martin Hannett and his work with drummer and Mancunian legend Bruce Mitchell up to the point where the sound was expanded with keyboards and viola. It's here if you missed it. 

The second part has taken me a while to put together and starts where the 80s finished. As that decade ended Tony Wilson, Vini's biggest champion, manager and friend, bought him a car bootful of equipment- samplers and sequencers- and told him to get stuck in. This led to some electronic sounding albums and songs, the 1989 album titled Vini Reilly and especially Obey The Time from the following year. Into the 90s Vini expanded the sound again, survived the collapse of Factory, released albums on Wilson's short- lived Factory Too and then several other labels into the 21st century. His 2010 album Paean To Wilson was recorded as a tribute to Tony and an attempt to pull together a lot of what Wilson loved about them onto one album. In 2011 Vini suffered a stroke which left him very ill and with severe financial problems for some time. Recovery from a stroke is a long road and although Vini now seems much better his guitar playing is still recovering. This second mix, Sketch For Vini 2 isn't supposed to be a definitive summary of Durutti Column from 1990 to 2010, just some songs from that period placed together. It starts with Wilson's looped voice (the opening track on Paean To Wilson) and then dives into the samplers and sequencers of the early 90s (including the remix done by Together, a remix that wasn't finished but Wilson put it out anyway in the aftermath of Jon Donaghy's tragically early death in 1990) and then onto the the mid 90s and beyond. Vini's guitar playing was often more direct and heavier in this period, less of the nuanced, semi- ambient, Roland Space Echo sound of the 80s. He worked with vocalists including Poppy Roberts and Caoilfhionn Rose and always seemed to be looking to do something new and take his music somewhere else, even when the attention of the press and the audience of the Factory years had largely gone elsewhere. There's loads to enjoy in his post- Factory years, you just have to start digging. Sketch For Vini 2 is on Mixcloud here. 

In his own words...

'In the end, I don't know if it's good music or bad music or indifferent music. I have no idea. I don't really care too much, it's done with and over with. People would say, why do you release it anyway, if you don't really rate it? The answer is, whatever music it is, bad, good, indifferent, stupid, boring, whatever, – it's truthful. At the time, it's the truth, and it's honest. There's no attempt to portray an image or a career or anything. It's what it is. And truth can be painful. It's about losses close to me, and about my own depression, but it's cathartic. But you have to be truthful. If you're not true in what you do, if you're creative, then you should forget it. All I've ever tried to do is be truthful.'

Tracklist

1. Or Are You Just A Technician?
2. Contra- Indications
3. The Together Mix
4. People’s Pleasure Park
5. Fado
6. So Many Crumbs And Monkeys!
7. Hotel Of The Lake, 1990
8. Megamix
9. Brother
10. It’s Wonderful
11. Longsight Romance
12. Meschugana
13. Anthony

San Pedro

Rikki Turner, former Paris Angel, ex-New Southern Elektrik and The Hurt, is a restless soul who just keeps moving- when one project ends another begins. His latest group is San Pedro Collective, named after the town in California that was home to Rikki's favourite writer Charles Bukowski (and also home to Bagging Area favourites Minutemen). San Pedro are preparing for a release in July, an e.p. called The Demon Sessions, which will include this song (appearing here in a brief snippet and remixed by The Winachi Tribe).



The Things You See is a collaboration between Rikki and Suddi Raval, with a thundering acid house bassline, plenty of late night, dancefloor vibes and a sultry vocal from Millie MacBean. Also involved are Simon Wolstencroft (ex- Fall drummer), Antnee Egerton of The Winachi Tribe and Manc poet Karl Hildebrandt. The e.p. will feature the original mix of The Things You See and two further songs, San Pedro and A View From The Drowning Pool- the latter is a moody, electronic beast, bleeps and sirens over an 808 and Rikki's street poetics, spoken word vocal.

Suddi Raval was one half of Together who made two records I hold dear. The first was 1990 rave anthem Hardcore Uproar, piano house, a Star Wars sample and the crowd sounds from a rave in a warehouse at the Sett End in Blackburn.



The second was an unfinished remix Together did of Durutti Column's Contra-Indications. In 1990 Vini Reilly was experimenting with samplers and drum machines and his Obey The Time album chimed perfectly with the times. Together's remix was unfinished due to the tragic death of Suddi's partner in Together, Jon Donaghy, in a road accident in Ibiza. I've been coming back to The Together Mix for almost thirty years now and always get chills when I play it. Despite being unfinished Tony Wilson declared it magnificent and released it as a single anyway.

The Together Mix


Rikki's former bands have all released songs that I've raved about here. In 2016 The Hurt released Berlin, a moody Scott Walker via Bowie, collar turned up against the falling Manchester rain.



Paris Angels were from Guide Bridge, near Ashton under Lyne, east of Manchester. Their first single is a legendary slice of 1990 Manchester, a marriage of acid house bass, jangly guitar lines and rattling machine drum with Rikki and Jane Gill's dual vocals. I once bumped into Jane at the Boardwalk- literally- and she told me to fuck off. Which was probably fair enough- I wasn't looking where I was going.

Perfume (All On You)

Perfume came out on indie label Sheer Joy and was widely played and praised. They followed it with two 12" singles- Scope and I Understand- before signing to Virgin (who re-released Perfume) and then put out an album called Sundew. Virgin was sold to EMI and a cull saw various bands removed from the label, Paris Angels among them (and PiL too). Which shows what major record labels know.

Hardcore Uproar

Simon said he hasn't been able to read this blog at his place of work because the firewall blocks Bagging Area due to its 'adult and sexual content'- which is news to me, I don't think there's much sexual content here apart from maybe the odd nipple. So today's blogpost heading won't help but it's not that kind of hardcore. Sorry if you were hoping for something else, let's keep it clean.

Hardcore Uproar is a legendary twelve incher (ahem) from 1990 by Together (Suddi Raval and Jon Donaghy) originally a white label produced with the sole intention of played at the Hacienda. It went on to reach number 12 in the UK charts. Opening with a few one fingered (oop!) keyboard notes, courtesy of John Carpenter, the track builds with some crowd noises and cheers (live from a rave in Nelson, Lancashire that got raided by the police), a couple of vocal samples (one of Ben Obi Wan Kenobi from Stars Wars), goes into bleep territory and finally climaxing (eek!) with all out piano house. Simple, home made, incredibly affecting and effective. It's probably best experienced in a northern nightclub or warehouse, strobe lights blinking and dry ice swirling, surrounded by people you don't know who all want to be your friend. As it is you'll have to settle for Saturday morning in front of your computer.



Together went on to remix Contra-Indications by Durutti Column, the brilliant Together Mix. While working on it Jon and his girlfriend were tragically killed in a motorbike accident in Ibiza.

Vini Reilly 'The Together Mix'

On and off Factory Records Vini Reilly and his Durutti Column have created many wonderful records. This one, from 1990's Obey the Time, sees Vini taking inspiration from the advances in club culture and technology going on around him, and obeying the time he created this, The Together Mix. It was worked on and remixed by Together, who went on to have a hit with Hardcore Uproar, one of whom died in a car crash in Ibiza. This is a lovely summery song, with Vini's trademark use of melody coupled with summer of late 80s/early 90s dance record production. It's a warm evening here and this fits perfectly.

The Together Mix.mp3