The Durutti Column - A Paean To Wilson, Kings Place, London 9/10/09

Two weeks ago my old favourites The Durutti Column played at Kings Place, one of the newest and plushest venues to open in the capital for some time. Tucked away around the back of Kings Cross on York Way, this is one more nod towards the ongoing and eventual regeneration of the Kings Cross area. From grotty to snotty, if you like.

This was no normal gig for DC. Previewed in Manchester back in July over three nights, "A Paean To Wilson", Vini Reilly's personal tribute to his late friend Tony Wilson, who died in 2007. Wilson managed DC for many years, and yet Reilly claims the only payment his manager ever took for the job was an old car stereo and a raincoat.

Along with Reilly and Bruce Mitchell and current Durutti regulars - Poppy Morgan on Fender Rhodes and Keir Stewart - keyboards and bass, they were complemented by two members of DC's mid 80s lineup, namely violinist and arranger John Metcalfe and trumpet player and former member of Simply Red and Olive - Tim Kellett. Together they played an hours worth of - for me, of very captivating and moving pieces of music. The only familiar tunes to my ears were a keyboard/guitar duet between Poppy and Vini which sounded very much like "Royal Infirmary" from "Circuses and Bread" album from 1986 and the encore which consisted of a wild loud feedback-drenched instrumental version of "Requiem For a Mother" from the 2003 album "Someone Else's Party". The keyword in that last sentence was "instrumental", because Tony Wilson was never a fan of Vini's vocal talents and did everything he could to stop him from singing, so it was a fitting tribute that this this tribute is vocal free.

An album has been recorded and a "A Paean To Wilson" will be released early 2010 on Kooky Records. However, copies were available in advance at the Kings Place concert and I have to say the album is a corker, and to my reckoning the first album without any vocals from Vini since the 1979 debut "The Return Of The Durutti Column".

Above are some low quality pictures I took on the night of the concert in London two weeks ago.

Also, to give you a taster, here is a clip from the London gig, below that, a clip from one the aforementioned gigs in Manchester from September and for a very interesting interview with Vini Reilly click here.

The Durutti Column...again

It's been about a month since my last Durutti Column post, so here goes.

Here are two fantastic clips. The first is from the Cambridge Theatre, London in 1988. Two songs are featured - "Day Is Over" aka "Finding The Sea" and "Red Shoes". The second clip is from 2006 and is taken from a session at the XFM studios Manchester. The song featured is "Alive" fearing Helen Farley Jones on vocals.

Vini and friends play Kings Place, London this Friday, so expect more on this subject. OK!

The Return Of..........My Obsession WIth The Durutti Column

All is very busy at Overground Sounds HQ at the moment, so for now, here is an audio clip of The Durutti Column's "Ananda" from the 2008 album "Sunlight to Blue...Blue to Blackness". Those regular readers with an interest in my recent recommendation "The Promise" by Vassilis Tsabropoulos should lend a keen ear to this track.

The Durutti Column - Love In The Time Of Recession (Japanese Edition)

Last weekend the Japanese edition of the Durutti Column's latest album `Love In The Time Of Recession' (released in the UK, March 2009) landed in my hallway. Well, not quite. I had a customs fee to pay, so had to collect it from the post office - £13.12 to be exact and that was on top of what I had to pay for the actual CD (£17.00)and the shipping cost (£4.00)from Japan. All for 3 bonus tracks. A bargain! At least it would be if any of them were any good.

Out of the three bonus tracks, it's hard to pick anything positive. `Duet For Piano and Guitar' (mis-titled as `The Secret Between The Blade And Me') is just a variant of `Painting', a track already on the album. `The Secret Between The Blade And Me' (mis-titled as `Duet For Piano and Guitar') carries on in a similar minimal vein, and sounds a bit like a C90 tape being mangled and features Vini Reilly's laziest vocal for sometime. The last bonus track `Everybody's Laughing (I Don't Care)' is not too bad at all, but is a filler for sure.

The album as a whole is excellent which some great tracks on there. `In Memory of Anthony' is a heartfelt ode to Vini's good friend and mentor, the late Tony Wilson, `Rant', `Loser' and `I'm Alive' are more traditional style Durutti tunes with drummer Bruce Mitchell in full effect. Which leads on neatly to the albums highlight, an instrumental piece entitled `For Bruce' with beautiful guitar playing and a very effective sample from an unknown source. Another highlight is `Lock Down' featuring a sample from the reggae dancehall artist Movado, which might seem a strange choice of sample for the Durutti Column, but it isn't the fist time they have used reggae as a source of sample. Other tracks are guitar and piano piece accompanied by Poppy Morgan, Reilly's current girlfriend, on piano. The results are varied. `Wild Beast Tamed' is an instrumental masterpiece whilst the aforementioned `Painting' and `My Poppy' have their merits but would have been more enjoyable to me as instrumentals. I have nothing against Vini's vocals, especially on tracks like `Gun' and `Big Hole' from the album 2006 `Keep Breathing', for example, but the vocals here just don't stand up.

Was it worth the money and the effort? Yes, but for the life of me I don't know why.

For samples (of the UK release) click here.

Full track list:

1. In Memory of Anthony
2. Rant
3. More Rainbows
4. I'm Alive
5. For Bruce
6. Painting
7. Wild Beast Tamed
8. Rainbow Maker
9. My Poppy
10. Loser
11. Lock-Down
12. The Secret Between The Blade And Me
13. Duet For Piano And Guitar
14. Everybody's Laughing (I Don't Care)

Here is a clip of The Durutti Column on BBC2's Culture Show, featuring an interview with the band and footage of one of their recent "Paean To Tony Wilson" shows in Manchester.

A Sketch For My Summer

I am off on my summer holidays now, so as a going away present, I will leave you with a great clip of The Durutti Column performing `Sketch For Summer' from 2007, and a clip from a private gig by Vini Reilly from last year performing `4 Sophia', what sounds like a variation of `Gathering Dust' and `Pigeon'.

Be good.

Welcome One and All

To start off this blog of mine , I will share with you this fantastic clip of the Durutti Column performing `Jacqueline' in 1988. Vini Reilly's guitar playing and Bruce Mitchell's drumming are excellent and the interplay between both players is a joy to watch. I have witnessed this track being played live on many occasions but those performances have never matched this.