The Durutti Column "Short Stories for Pauline" (2012)

Short Stories for Pauline
release date: Jun. 18, 2012
format: cd (fbn 36)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "At First Sight" - 2. "Duet" - 3. "College" - 4. "Invitations" - 5. "Destroy, She Said" - 6. "Model" - 7. "Journeys by Vespa" - 8. "Take Some Time Out" - 9. "A Silence" - 10. "Mirror A" - 11. "Cocktail" - 12. "Telephone Call" - 13. "Mirror B" - 14. "A Room in Southport"

23rd studio album release by The Durutti Column issued on Factory Benelux and produced by Vini Reilly. It's hard to fit in the category of new material as all tracks are from what was an abandoned album that Reilly worked on back in 1983, and which could/should have been his fourth studio album with the same title as here, and therefore it carries the original production number fbn36. Instead, Factory Records, or i.e. manager Tony Wilson, persuaded Reilly to work on what became the neo-classical Without Mercy (1984). That album only consists of two tracks but one will find that the tracks contain themes and pieces that has been incorporated from various tracks on this, the abandoned album. Some of the tracks have previously been released on a compilation album titled Lips That Would Kiss (1991), also by Factory Benelux.
[ official release info, see here ]
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Chronicle" (2011)

Chronicle
release date: Apr. 30, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Fanfare" - 2. "Synergetic" - 3. "Ananda" - 4. "Accord" - 5. "Time to Lift" - 6. "Anguish of the Text Message" - 7. "What Is It Worth" - 8. "Someone Got Away" - 9. "Jeeves and Wooster" - 10. "Friends" - 11. "Emptyness" - 12. "No More Close to Me" - 13. "Resolution"

22nd studio album release by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records and produced by ? [Vini Reilly?]. The style and music here is in the same area as Idiot Savants (2007) and Rebellion (2001), which is to say, a return to ambient dream pop, though, I think, it has some post rock feel, or at least a meditative progressiveness.
The album release comes after Vini Reilly has experienced a heavy degree of misfortune - firstly, his relationship with Poppy Morgan came to an end during the recording process, something he mentions in the liner notes had a huge impact on the finalising of the album, and once the album was put together, he was inflicted by two consecutive minor strokes in late 2010 - another followed in early 2011. The result of this has made it impossible for him to play the guitar, thus it seems unlikely that any new guitar music will be realised from his hands.
The overall experience is not that it's one of his best albums. Some tracks sound like outtakes or rough demos, and I find it hard to rate fully. It's also a typical The Durutti Column album that touches on modern classical.

The Durutti Column "A Paean to Wilson" (2010)

A Paean to Wilson
release date: Jan. 24, 2010
format: digital (2-disc)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Or Are You Just a Technician" - 2. "Chant" - 3. "Quatro" - 4. "Requiem" - 5. "Stuki" - 6. "Along Came Poppy" (4 / 5) - 7. "Brother" - 8. "Duet With Piano" - 9. "Darkness Here" - 10. "Catos Revisited" (4 / 5) - 11. "The Truth" - 12. "How Unbelievable"

21st studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records produced by Keir Stewart and Bruce Mitchell. Before this, The DC released the 19th studio album Treatise on the Steppenwolf Soundtrack, a soundtrack album released on LTM Recordings (August 2008), and his 20th studio album Love in the Time of Recession (2009) issued on Artful Records.
A Paen... is dedicated to Tony Wilson (Anthony Wilson) co-founder of Factory Records, and Reilly's friend and manager who died in 2007. Here, Reilly covers almost all of his vast stylistic repertoire, playing post-punk, art rock, experimental, acoustic rock, dream pop, ambient, electronic, jazz, modern classical, electronic, shoegaze... and without making it a mishmash of styles. It's so incorporated in Reilly's expressiveness that it works even for this, an instrumental dedication. The album is released with a bonus disc Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent), originally released as digital download ep album only in 2005, thus making it a mere gift than an integral part of the actual album.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness" (2008)

Sunlight to Blue... Blue to Blackness
release date: Jun. 23, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Glimpse" - 3. "Messages" - 4. "Ged" - 5. "Ananda" (feat. Poppy Morgan) - 6. "Never Known Version" - 8. "Head Glue" (feat. Poppy Morgan) (4 / 5) - 10. "Cup a Soup Romance" - 11. "Grief"

18th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Kooky Records produced by ? [Vini Reilly?]. Feb. 2008 he had released a live album, Live in Bruxelles 13.8.1981, and still of 2008 he released the soundtrack album Treatise on the Steppenwolf (OST) both issued on LTM Recordings. This is like Tempus fugit (2004) a collection of quietness and soulful ballads with Reilly primarily picking his guitar strings, acoustically or electrified, but often with little additional instrumentation. The album is dedicated to Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan (aka Poppy Roberts). It's quiet, nice and very fine.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Idiot Savants" (2007)

Idiot Savants
release date: Jul. 16, 2007
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Better Must Come" - 2. "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)" (4 / 5) - 3. "Please Let Me Sleep" - 4. "2 Times Nice" - 8. "That Blows My Name Away (For Rachel)"

17th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Fullfill / Artful Records and produced by Keir Stewart (track 3 produced by Tim Thomas). Before this, The DC released the album Sporadic Three (April 2007, Kooky Records). On this release, Reilly again plays with sampling and electronic but without adding new dimensions or contributing with much else than what at times sounds like versions or improvs of older material, although I really like "Interleukin 2 (For Anthony)".
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent)" (2005), ep

Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) (ep)
release date: Mar. 2005
format: digital (6 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Bruce" - 2. "Keir" - 3. "Neil" - 4. "Mike" - 5. "Alan" - 6. "Anthony"

A digital ep (download album only) by The Durutti Column released through F4 Records [4th incarnation of Factory Records] produced by Vini Reilly. The release consists of 6 tracks distributed by F4 Records for download only. The ep was later included as a bonus disc on the album A Paen to Wilson (2010), which is where I got it.

The Durutti Column "Tempus fugit" (2004)

Tempus fugit
release date: May 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "Shooting" - 3. "Lullaby 4 Nina" (4 / 5) - 6. "Violence" - 8. "Love Song on Quattro" - 9. "Tempus fugit" - 10. "The Man Who Knows" - 11. "Slipping Away" - 14. "Salford Harmonics"

14th studio album by The Durutti Column is a 15-track release issued on Kooky Records produced by Laurie Laptop [aka Laurie Lexicon, aka Laurie Keith] and Vini Reilly. The album has its own distinct 'dreampop' style. Before this, Reilly released the album Someone Else's Party (2003), in homage of his late mother. This album is entirely made by Reilly and it seems like an extraordinary personal and quiet, almost meditative, release, often done with unusual strumming on acoustic guitar. Only other performer on the album is Jill Taylor who adds vocal harmonies to many tracks. The album's title refers to the songs, and is underlined in the front cover, showing Reilly's conception of how "time flees".
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Keep Breathing" (2004)

Keep Breathing
release date: Jan. 30, 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Nina" - 2. "It's Wonderful" (4 / 5) - 3. "Maggie" - 4. "Helen" (4 / 5) - 6. "Big Hole" - 7. "Let Me Tell You Something" - 8. "Lunch" - 10. "Tuesday" - 12. "Waiting"

15th studio album by The Durutti Column issued on Artful Records and produced by Ben Roberts. Stylistically, it's hard to categorize, like most of his releases. It's experimental art pop with sampling, drum machines, synthesizers, and full effect on his guitar pedals, but it's not just that. It's also ambient and very world music-like. It contain great compositions but also some fillers.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Rebellion" (2001)

Rebellion
release date: Aug. 14, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "4 Sophia" (4 / 5) - 2. "Longsight Romance" (3 / 5) - 3. "Geh Cak Af En Yam" - 4. "The Feilds of Athenry" - 5. "Overlord Part One" - 6. "Falling" (3,5 / 5) - 7. "Voluntary Arrangement" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Mello Part One" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "Mello Part Two" (3 / 5) - 10. "Protest Song" - 11. "Meschugana"

12th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Artful Records and the major classical label Decca Records, and is produced by Keir Stewart. Percussionist Bruce Mitchell appears on the release, almost as usual, only this time he has contributed as composer with Reilly on two tracks (#3, #11). The album shows a return to his trademark of ambient experimental art rock with both a classical and jazz feel, and gone is the new found indie pop style and the many years of experiments with house and electronic is put in the background. This is one of Reilly's better releases almost touching his finest hours of the 1980s.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Time Was Gigantic...When We Were Kids" (1998)

Time Was Gigantic...When We Were Kids
release date: Nov. 3, 1998
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]
producer: Keir Stewart
label: Factory Too / London Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Organ Donor" - 2. "Pigeon" - 3. "I B Yours" - 4. "Twenty Trees" - 7 "Sing to Me" - 9. "For Rachel" - 10. "Highfield Choir"

11th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factory Too (with the aid from London Records) and produced by Keir Stewart. Factory Records had closed in '92 and Factory Too closed in '96, which only explains why many of the original album releases on the two Factory labels are rather hard to find anywhere in distribution. This album is not entirely electronic but it shows Reilly's journey into avant-garde indie pop.

The Durutti Column "Fidelity" (1996)

Fidelity
release date: 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Laurie Lexicon
label: Crépuscule - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "For Suzanne" - 3. "Future Perfect" - 5. "G & T" - 7. "Sanko" - 9. "Guitar for Mother" - 10. "Storm for Steve"

10th studio album or so by The Durutti Column released on Crépuscule and produced by Laurie Lexicon [Laurie Keith, aka Laurie Laptop]. By this, Reilly has released so many obscure albums on likewise obscure record labels that it has become difficult to keep count of what are "official" albums and what are collaboration works and / or just regional / limited releases. This is not released through Factory Records (who had a troubled time in the early '90s and eventually closed in '92) nor on Factory Too, but the album had its release on the Belgian label Crépuscule (or: Les Disques du Crépuscule, a label with strong bonds to Factory Records as it was also called Factory Benelux, which originally was a sublabel of Factory Records residing in Belgium). This is another of his electronic experiments, and he really tries many styles on this, mainly in a downtempo house area. I feel it's slightly better than Obey the Time (1990) but not much, although, allmusic disagree.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Sex and Death" (1994)

Sex and Death
release date: Nov. 1994
format: digital (facd2.01)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Stephen Street, Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Anthony" - 2. "The Rest of My Life" - 3. "For Colette" - 6. "My Irascible Friend" - 7. "Believe in Me" - 11. "Madre Mio"

9th "real" studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factor Too and co-produced by Stephen Street and Vini Reilly. As on Obey the Time (1990) and the successor Fidelity (1996) Reilly has really picked up electronic as his new musical playground. It's still music created for guitar but in an ambient electronic soundscape with the addition of traditional strings (violin and cello), and this release is much more interesting. The album was released on the new-founded label Factory Too, founded by Tony Wilson (co-founder of Factory Records) in the ashes of Factory Records, however, this new label didn't survive long as it was closed in 1996.
Without being one of of his best, the album offers some fine compositions where the overall impression is that Reilly is still searching for his style.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Obey the Time" (1990)

Obey the Time
release date: Dec. 1990
format: digital (fact 274)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,88]
producer: Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Vino della Casa Blanco" - 3. "Fridays" - 5. "Art and Freight" - 10. "Vino della Casa Rosso"

8th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factory Records and produced by Vini Reilly. This was a bit of a musical disappointment to me. The interesting part about the album is Reilly's experimentation with the electronic genre. He explores new styles and 'machinery' but the end result is not favourable on this one, which was his last studio album at legendary Factory Records. The company declared bankruptcy in '92 and Reilly found a temporary record label in Italy.
After this he released two semi-studio albums Dry (1991) and Red Shoes (1992) both on the Italian record label Materiali Sonori (both with some new tracks but also new versions of older material) before returning to England and the label Factory Too to release Sex and Death (1994).
[ allmusic.com hands it 2 in 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Vini Reilly" (1989)

Vini Reilly
release date: Mar. 1, 1989
format: vinyl (fact 244) / cd (2020)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Paul Miller, Stephen Street, Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Love No More" (4 / 5) - 2. "Pol in G" (5 / 5) - 3. "Opera I" - 4. "People's Pleasure Park" - 5. "Finding the Sea" - - B) 1. "Otis" (4 / 5) - 5. "Requiem Again" (4 / 5) - 6. "My Country" (4 / 5)
[ full album ]

7th studio album by The Durutti Column released on Factory Records and produced by Paul Miller, Stephen Street and Vini Reilly. This is one of my favourite albums by The Durutti Column, which may be the one if I was to pick just one of his brilliant works. Musically, it's a development from his 1987 release The Guitar and Other Machines but here the tracks are much more incorporated as one album instead of being a collection of single tracks. Somehow he succeeds in mixing classical compositions with art pop making his own unique modern classical style.
Finally, it's suggested, perhaps just to answer a lot of questions about the name of the band - "Yes, I am The Durutti Column". Prior to his work on this album, and after finishing his '87 album, Reilly was hired by ex-The Smiths vocalist, Morrissey to play guitar and keyboards on his debut album Viva Hate (1988) - also produced by Stephen Street.
The 2020 remastered 2 CD edition contains a number of live recordings, some of which previously were released as "Womad Live" as well as demo recordings.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item 'made in England' - from ~ €68,- ]

The Durutti Column "The Guitar and Other Machines" (1987)

The Guitar and Other Machines
release date: Dec. 1987
format: vinyl (fact204) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Arpeggiator" (4 / 5) - 2. "What Is It to Me (Woman)" - 4. "Jongleur Grey" - 5. "When the World" - 6. "U.S.P." (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Bordeaux Sequence" - 2. "Pol In B" (4 / 5) - 3. "English Landscape Tradition" (4 / 5) - 5. "Don't Think You're Funny" (4 / 5)

6th studio album by The Durutti Column following 1 year after Circuses and Bread.

This is one of my favourite albums by The DC. The sound and style is very different with the introduction of drum machines and a heavier use of synthesizers. Somehow the album felt right when it came out and I recall how I used to listen to this at full volume on my walk-man while travelling to work by train. It's not his best but I like his experiments and will to expand his repertoire. My main critique of the album is that it points in too many directions to be a really great album.
[ allmusic.com hands it 3 in 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

The Durutti Column "Circuses and Bread" (1986)

Factory Benelux
release fbn136
(my release)

Circuses and Bread
release date: May 1986
format: vinyl (fbn 36) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]
producer: Vini Reilly
label: Factory Benelux - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Pauline" (4 / 5) - 2. "Tomorrow" - 3. "Dance II" - 4. "Hilary" - 5. "Street Fight" - 6. "Royal Infirmary" (4 / 5) - 7. "Black Horses" - 8. "Dance I" - 9. "Blind Elevator Girl - Osaka" (4 / 5)

5th studio album by The Durutti Column originally released by Factory Records - the album is listed as the seventh studio album on thedurutticolumn.com, but that includes counting the album Amigos em Portugal released in Portugal only (issued on Fundação Atlântica) and probably the live album Domo Arigato to the list. The album is a return to the style and a mix of Another Setting (1982) and LC (1981) seemingly without adding much new to his music, but there's a delicate introduction to his use of sampling and/or drum programming, which would be further elaborated on succeeding albums, and the album contains several stand-outs.
[ allmusic.com 3 in 5 stars ]

Factory Records org.
cd release, facd154

The Durutti Column "Domo Arigato" (1985) (live)

Domo Arigato (live)
release date: Aug. 1985
format: digital (facd 144)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Live album by The Durutti Column, originally released for the Japanese market only but shortly after released on Factory Records for the home market as well. In 1998, a remastered edition was released with 4 bonus tracks. The album mostly contains tracks from all albums, but it's really more than just a compilation of older songs, as the versions here are like jazz live tracks, played uniquely and with improvisations.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

1998 Remastered Bonus Tracks Edition

The Durutti Column "Without Mercy" (1984)

Without Mercy
release date: Oct. 1984
format: vinyl (fact 84) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Anthony Wilson and Michael Johnson
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Without Mercy I" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Without Mercy II" (3,5 / 5)

4th studio album by The Durutti Column. Reilly released an album titled Amigos em Portugal before this one, however, that album was only distributed in Portugal and not on Factory Records like this and all of his official albums, which in my mind makes this his fourth studio album. As far as I know, this is his first album to have Tony Wilson producing and / or working with Reilly on an album release. Wilson was Reilly's manager from the formation of The Durutti Column until Wilson's death in 2007. 

Allegedly, Reilly has disregarded this album and only did it to please Wilson, who tempted Reilly to be more artistically original and persuaded him to do an album with classical instrumentation.

The album is a further step into experimental art rock and what I see as modern classical. I bought the vinyl album upon its release, and both found it sorely beautiful, lamenting, agonisingly melancholic AND at the same time I found it difficult to obtain for a teenager's taste for dirty punk rock and more standardised post-punk expressions. I have never ceased to enjoy this album, and for every decade, I have come to enjoy it a little bit more. Today, I see it as a masterpiece where Reilly showcases his many talents, as guitarist, pianist, and composer of complex modern music, and not only on the border to classical music but on the borders of musical expressiveness. 'Cause how does this fit in, in the time bubble of contemporary manifestations of music, regardless styles and genre? It doesn't. It's so damn unique and to the vast masses, simply unknown. So far.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars (users reviews: 4,5 / 5) ]

The Durutti Column "Another Setting" (1983)

Another Setting
release date: Aug. 1983
format: digital (fact 74)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Chris Nagle and Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Prayer" - 2. "Response" - 3. "Bordeaux" - 4. "For a Western" - 5. "The Beggar" - 6. "Francesca" - 7. "Smile in the Crowd" - 8. "You've Heard It Before" - 9. "Dream of a Child" - 10. "Second Family" - 11. "Spent Time"

3rd studio album by The Durutti Column. The style on the two first album was dark and mellow, reflecting the close connection to the post-punk environment, but this release shows another side to Reilly's many talents. Here, one hears an apparent ambient style, a noticeable jazz-element, and also a clear bond to modern classical compositions.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "LC" (1981)

LC
release date: Dec. 15, 1981
format: digital (fact 44)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,15]
producer: Stew Pickering and Vini Reilly
label: Factor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Sketch for Dawn I" (4 / 5) - 2. "Portrait for Frazer" - 3. "Jaqueline" (5 / 5) - 4. "Messidor" (4 / 5) - 5. "Sketch for Dawn II" (4 / 5) - 6. "Never Known" (5 / 5) - 7. "The Act Committed" (4 / 5) - 8. "Detail for Paul" (4 / 5) - 9. "The Missing Boy" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "The Sweet Cheat Gone" (4 / 5)

2nd album by The Durutti Column, where Reilly continues his own original style, which seems so unprovoked by anything else, and leaving music critics at the time with a difficult time labelling his music. LC (short for 'Lotta Continua' i.e. 'The fight continues') is one of his finest albums. "The Missing Boy" is written in memory of Reilly's late friend Ian Curtis (lead vocalist of Joy Division).
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

1996 Remastered Bonus Tracks Edition