A Paean To Wilson

Buy it Now with Paypal (only) direct from Kooky

Price 15.00 GBP including Worldwide P+P.

CD: UK 09.10.09 (Kooky Records, Kookydisc 29/1 & 29/2)
Download: UK 25.01.10 (Kooky Records)

Tracklisting

Disc one – A Paean To Wilson [Kookydisc 29/1]

Movement

I Or Are You Just A Technician
II Chant
III Quatro
IV Requiem
V Stuki
VI Along Came Poppy
VII Brother
VIII Duet With Piano
IX Darkness Here
X Catos Revisited
XI The Truth
XII How Unbelievable

Bonus Disc: Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) [Kookydisc 29/2]

1 Bruce
2 Keir
3 Neil
4 Mike
5 Alan
6 Anthony

Liner notes by Vini Reilly

A Paean to Wilson is part of a body of work which I started around the time that my friend, Tony Wilson died. Towards the end of his illness, I sent him an instrumental track and he loved it, so I decided that the right thing to do was carry on.

I was at the hospital when he died. We were very, very close. Afterwards, many things were done in his name. They were all about 'Mr Manchester', and about what Tony had done for music, art and literature. I didn't attend many of them. I'd just lost one of my closest friends and I had all the grief that you feel under such circumstances. Once I'd got my act together though, I decided to do something for myself and for Tony.

The Durutti Column was Tony Wilson's baby. We were the first act signed up to his Factory club night and the first band signed to Factory Records. Over the years we worked on many albums together and the one thing that Tony and I always argued about was that he thought that I should make music and write rather than sing.

After he died, I decided to make a body of work which did not have traditional song structures and which was concerned solely with the musical content. My only objective was to create some music that Tony would thoroughly approve of. I think I've done that and, if his spirit lives on - which I like to think that it does - I want him to know that this is for him. Vini Reilly

Musicians

Vini Reilly - Guitar, Piano
Bruce Mitchell - Drums, Marimba
Keir Stewart - Bass, Keyboards, Harmonica
Poppy Morgan - Piano
John Metcalfe - Viola
Tim Kellet - Trumpet
Ruby Morgan, Kate Williamson - Vocals

Composed by Reilly, Stewart & Mitchell

String arrangements by Ian Livingstone and Keir Stewart

Performed by the Livingstone Chamber Ensemble. Recorded at Highfield Studios, Guildford, Surrey

Drums recorded at Moolah Rouge and engineered by Seadna McPhail

Produced by Keir Stewart
Executive producer Bruce Mitchell

Mixed & mastered by Keir Stewart at Inch Studio Manchester. www.inchstudio.com

Thanks to:

Howard Sharrock
Alex Poots
Simon Mellor
The Kooky Gang
Phil Cleaver
Alex McMurtrie

Thanks to the Brothers McLeod. Hats off to Colin and Norman for building the best studio in Manchester - Moolah Rouge. Colin Adshead & the amazing 5003D mic amp and being patient with Keir's gear-tweak OCD, Dave Lunt for the Quad Valve Pre and instrument care. Daniel Courville in Canada for the ambisonic plugins.

Thanks to Bruce to all his family, all my family and all Morgans everywhere. Also thanks to Michael Pitrik for hair, Laurie Laptop, Alan Erasmus, Oli Wilson and all Tony's dear ones, Les Thompson, Mark Broscombe, Phil and Emma, John 'Cerysmatic' Cooper, Mark Prendergast, Gwyn and Pip and their beautiful family, and Hugh and Amanda Williamson.

Also to the Birmingham Three and all our supporters around the world! Special thanks to Bruce Mitchell for keeping me alive and Poppy Morgan for keeping me happy. Vini

Cover photograph by Stephen Wright
Other photographs by Ben Kelly, Dave John Norton, Poppy Morgan
Designed by Trevor Johnson & Haider Muhdi

5 024545 570328

Manufactured in the United Kingdom
P & © Imagen Music 2009
All rights reserved. Kookydisc 29/1 & 29/2

www.thedurutticolumn.com
www.kookydisc.co.uk

Reviews

A beautiful and entirely fitting eulogy

Tony Wilson always wanted Vini Reilly to make music. Reilly’s The Durutti Column were Mr. Manchester’s favourite band, and the first to sign to Factory Records - which ensures that 'A Paean To Wilson' is a deeply personal collection of songs, as Reilly grieves for the loss of his close friend. Be it the delicate Spanish guitar on ‘Quatro’, the lonely trumpet on ‘Along Came Poppy’ or the poignant Marvin Gaye sample (“Brother, brother / There’s too many of us dying”) on ‘Brother’, Reilly’s exquisite instrumentation conveys both an intense sadness and a celebratory joy.

'Paean To Wilson' is a requiem for the bond of eternal friendship, and a beautiful, and entirely fitting, eulogy.

8/10, John Freeman, ClashMusic.com

Wordless homage to late Factory Records chief

Vini Reilly's Durutti Column were the first band Tony Wilson ever signed to Factory Records, back in early 1978. Their bond was such that, when Wilson was ill in hospital, Reilly sent him new instrumentals to listen to and was at his bedside when he died. This rich and contemplative record is the fruition of that, forsaking traditional song structure for nagging loops, ambient flurries of guitar notes (spilling over into Spanish flamenco on "Quatro"), highly rhythmic percussion and strobing feedback. John Metcalfe's viola, particularly, is mood-perfect. It all ends with Wilson's damning verdict on New Labour. Ever the last word.

****, Rob Hughes, UNCUT 153, Feb 2010

Instrumental tribute to late Factory Records boss

"Championed by Tony Wilson for almost 30 years and present in hospital when the former Factory boss died in 2007, this is Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column's double-CD tribute to his friend and mentor. A sprawling, instrumental affair, it's also boldly eclectic, mixing the delicate acoustic pickings of Catos Revisited with the brooding guitar noise of Requiem and the Marvin Gaye-sampling Brother and The Truth, via new age, ambient textures and beautiful piano piece Anthony [actually on the bonus CD, 2005's Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent), Ed.]. Clocking in at 100 minutes, it might have benefited from some pruning, but this still makes for a fine tribute."

***, Phil Mongredien, Q

Notes

The album went on sale initially at the sold out Beyond The Loop concert at Kings Place in London on Friday 9 October 2009 priced GBP 15.00 [cash only].

The album went on internet presale in limited quantities via the Buy It Now Button for 15.00 GBP from 1-27 November 2009. It is now on general release as of 24 January 2010 and was sold at the gig at the Lowry in Salford on the same day.

The Durutti Column 2001-2009

6CD: UK 02.11.09 (Artful/Fullfill)*

Tracklisting

Disc one

Rebellion

4 Sophia
Longsight Romance
Geh Cak Af En Yam
The Fields Of Athenry
Overlord Part One
Falling
Voluntary Arrangement
Mello Part One
Mello Part Two
Protest Song
Meschugana
Everyone Loves Papa (XFM Session)
Teresa (XFM Session)

Disc two

Someone Else's Party

Love is a friend
Spanish lament
Somewhere
Somebody's party
Requiem for my mother
Remember
Vigil
Blue
No more hurt
Spasmic fairy
American view
Drinking time
Woman
Goodbye
Creole (XFM Session)
Spasmic Fairy (XFM Session)

Disc three

Keep Breathing

Nina
Its Wonderful
Maggie
Helen
Neil
Big Hole
Let Me Tell You Something
Lunch
Gun
Tuesday
Agnus Dei
Waiting

Disc four

Idiot Savants

Better Must Come
Interleukin 2 (for anthony)
Please Let Me Sleep
2 Times Nice
No Last Surprise
Gathering Dust
Whisper To The Wind
That Blows My Name Away (for rachel)

Disc five

Love In The Time of Recession

In Memory Of Anthony
Rant
More Rainbows
I'm Alive
For Bruce
Painting
Wild Beast Tamed
Rainbow Maker
My Poppy
Loser
Lock-Down
The Secret Between The Blade And Me
Duet For Piano And Guitar
Everybody's Laughing (I Don't Care)

Credits

To follow

--

5CD box set of the albums released on Artful/Fullfill during the period 2001-2009. Includes art prints of the individual covers. Individual discs contain bonus tracks originally only available on the Japanese versions of the original albums. The 6th disc which was originally thought to contain all the bonus tracks doesn't exist.

Available to from Townsend Records.

Four Factory Records

Four Factory Records

Buy It Now with Paypal

Four Factory Records is now available to buy again direct from Kooky. Please note that the initial run of 1175 has now sold out. Copies now being offered for sale are identical in every way to the initial release except for the fact that they are not numbered.

Available to buy now with Paypal (only) direct from Kooky Records. 6CD only. GBP 37.50 inc Worldwide p+p

Tracklisting

Disc one

The Return of The Durutti Column

Disc Two

LC

Disc Three

Another Setting

Disc Four

Without Mercy

Live Bonus Disc

Messidor - Night Moves, Glasgow 19/02/82
Party - Night Moves, Glasgow 19/02/82
Danny - Night Moves, Glasgow 19/02/82
Mercy Theme - London School of Economics 14/12/84
Mercy Dance - London School of Economics 14/12/84
Prayer - London School of Economics 14/12/84
The Beggar - London School of Economics 14/12/84
The Missing Boy - London School of Economics 14/12/84
For Belgian Friends - Brighton Zap Club 15/12/84
Self Portrait - Brighton Zap Club 15/12/84
Sketch for Summer - Brighton Zap Club 15/12/84

Demo/Studio Bonus Disc

Intervals - Home recording 1978
Katherine - Home recording 1978
Untitled - Home recording 1978
Conduct - Home recording 1978
In D - Issued on second pressing of Return of
The Act Commited - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Portrait for Frazier - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Detail for Paul - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Never Known - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Experiment in Fifth - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Untitled LC demo - Graveyard Studio demo LC
Never Known - Four Track home demo
Mavuchka - released in place of Messidor in some territories on LC

Credits

Albums re-mastered from the original tapes by Keir Stewart.

RETURN OF THE DURUTTI COLUMN All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Martin Hannett. Recorded at Cargo, Rochdale. Engineered by John Brierley. Mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport.

LC All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Vini Reilly and Stewart Pickering. Recorded and Mixed at Graveyard Studios, Prestwich. Engineered by Stewart Pickering.

ANOTHER SETTING All songs written by Vini Reilly. Recorded and mixed at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Engineered by Chris Nagle.

WITHOUT MERCY All songs written by Vini Reilly. Produced by Anthony Wilson and Michael Johnson. Recorded at Strawberry Studios, Stockport. Engineered by Michael Johnson; assisted by Tim Dewey and Nigel Beverley. Mixed at Britannia Row, London.

DEMOS / STUDIO All songs written by Vini Reilly. Compiled and mastered from studio and home demos at Far Heath Studios by Angus Wallace and at Kooky by Phil Cleaver. Thanks to Mike Mitchell.

LIVE All songs written by Vini Reilly. Compiled and mastered from original cassette mixing desk dates at Kooky by Phil Cleaver. Special thanks to Bruce Mitchell for the source material.

Liner notes written, and interviews conducted, by John Cooper. Archival album photography by Carsten Fleck. Designed by Steven Hankinson. / Kooky acknowledgements: Special thanks to Bryn, Iain, John and Simon (the 'kooky thinktank'); Bruce Mitchell and Mike Mitchell for the live and demo material; Oli Wilson for assistance in providing the original masters; Emma and Alison. Extra special thanks to John Cooper, John Cox, Darren Crawford, Steven Hankinson and Kerry Wadsworth for making this happen very well very quickly.

Vini Reilly acknowledgements: Thank you for keeping the ship afloat Mr Bruce Mitchell Esq. (The Gonzo Drum Master), Mr Keir Stewart for enabling Vini to record and producing beyond the call of duty, Brosci (the 5th member of The Durutti Column), all of Bruce's family, all of my family, all of Poppy's family (contributions from Kate and Ruby), Michael Pitrick for hairstyle, Phil Cleaver and Emma, Alex McMurtrie, John Cooper, Gary at Sounds Great, Damian my doctor, Joanne Ingleby (dental care), my harvest mouse (Sa Ding Ding), Mr Anthony H Wilson and extended family, Alan Erasmus, Les Thompson (and Jill), Laurie Laptop, Mark Prendergast (for forthcoming book), John Lennard and Savanna, Howard Sharrock (the great entrepreneur and friend) and Bruce Mitchell most of all - my best friend and the most superb drummer on the planet.

--

A 6-CD limited edition box set on Kooky Records entitled 'Four Factory Records'.

Includes a package of interviews with the key protagonists from the period including Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell, John Metcalfe, Keir Stewart and Tim Kellett.

Advance copies were sold at the Manchester International Festival shows 15-17 July 2009. It was then be available in all good record shops (actual and virtual) and direct from Kooky from August 2009. All sets will include the two bonus discs.

Kooky has tried to make this lavish package available at a sensible price. It is now on sale again via the Buy It Now button. Please note that the initial run of 1175 has now sold out. Copies now being offered for sale are identical in every way to the initial release except for the fact that they are not numbered.

Auteur Labels: Factory Records: 1984

Auteur Labels: Factory Records 1984

CD: UK 01.06.09 (LTM, LTMCD 2534)

Tracklisting

Duet (Without Mercy) 2:29

Notes

From LTM:

"Founded in late 1978, early Factory releases were guided by the five original directors: Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville, Martin Hannett and Rob Gretton. By 1984 Hannett had departed, and many Factory singles were produced by all four members of New Order under the generic name Be Music. These reflected the influence of New York dance and electro music, though the label's Haçienda nightclub was not yet a conspicuous success. Meanwhile the artier side of Factory remained evident in records by The Durutti Column and Kalima, and pop/rock in The Wake, Stockholm Monsters - and New Order themselves."

"The 77 minute remastered CD features several rare edits and tracks, detailed liner notes by James Nice, and archive images."

Available now from LTM Mail Order.

Love in the Time of Recession

Love in the Time of Recession


Love in the Time of Recession; Japanese edition on Imperial Records

Download: UK 01.09 (Artful/Fullfill)*
CD: UK 02.03.09 (Artful/Fullfill, ARTFULCD64) **
CD: JP 24.06.09 (Imperial Records Japan, TECI-25558) ***

Tracklisting

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). ***

* - Rant available for immediate download to those who pre-ordered the album via Townsend Records

** - Official release date brought forward from 20.04.09. Available on eBay pre-sale from 4 February 2009 via the Fullfill eBay Store.

*** - Bonus tracks on Japanese edition

Credits

Written and played by Vini Reilly, with drums and percussion from the Guru himself, Bruce Mitchell, keyboards by Keir Stewart and piano by Poppy.

1. Trumpet and percussion by Tim at Blueprint Studio
2. Co-written and produced by Keir Stewart at "Inch" Studio
3. Produced by KC and Laurie Laptop
4. Co-written and performed by Poppy Morgan
7. Produced by Laurie Laptop
9. Co-written and performed by Poppy Morgan
10. Co-written and performed by Poppy Morgan
11. Co-written and drumming by Bruce Mitchell. Co-written and produced by Keir Stewart at "Inch"

Notes

Cover photo features (l-r) Bruce Mitchell, Mark Broscombe, Vini Reilly, Poppy Morgan, Tim Thomas, Keir Stewart and Laurie Laptop.

The album opens with the 'In Memory of Anthony' which is inspired by Reilly's long friendship with Factory Records impresario, Tony Wilson who died in 2007. 'He always encouraged me to follow my instincts,' says Reilly. 'And that's still how I work. All the new songs are a very true reflection of my life and that's all I want any album to be.'

'Wild Beast Tamed' is one of several tracks co-written with Reilly's girlfriend, Poppy Morgan who also partly inspired the title of the album (a romantic nod to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, Love In The Time Of Cholera).

However, Reilly's long-term friendships with Bruce Mitchell (himself the subject of an instrumental tribute, 'For Bruce'), Keir Stewart and Laurie Laptop were just as important in making the album possible. 'Without all of them I don't know how I would be able to carry on, on any level,' explains Reilly. 'And as musicians there's no one else I would rather work with.'

According to Vini Reilly, the "KC" who co-produced track 3 is an old hippy-type guy who has a rather ramshackle home studio.

Notes on the Japanese edition

According to Tower Records Japan, the Japanese title of Love in the Time of Recession is "Seihitsunaru Gekijyou". This is not strictly a literal translation of the English language title.

Seihitsu [naru] = Peaceful (or Peace and calm) ["naru" is a kind of a verb]
Gekijyou = Passion

So, the meaning of the Japanese title is really "Peaceful Passion". However, Japanese fans (or general listeners not familiar with The Durutti Column) may love this title, recession or not.

A handwritten message from Vini Reilly in the Japanese edition booklet reads "To all our Japanese friends, thank you for being so loyal and patient with us and for continuing to listen to our music. We hope to visit Japan again soon - beautiful country, beautiful people. Love from Vini. X.

Extra special thanks to Telle for Japanese notes.

Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992

Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992


Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992 [promo disc one front cover detail]

Download: UK 12.08 (Rhino)
4CD: UK 19.01.09 (Rhino)

Tracklisting

Sketch For Summer [2:57]
Messidor [2:31]
A Little Mercy (Duet) [2:33]
Otis [4:17]*
Home [5:39]

[all MP3, 256 kbps]

* - mp3 only

Notes

4CD box set chronicling the history of Factory Records and featuring five tracks by The Durutti Column. Also known as the Factory Box Set (promo copies exist with this title). Compiled by Jon Savage, with an essay by Paul Morley, and artwork by Peter Saville.

Full release date 12 January 2009 but digital download available from Amazon.co.uk and possibly other sources since December 2008.

Otis doesn't appear on the 4CD version, only on the Amazon download. There are other, non-Durutti Column differences between the tracklistings of the digital download and CD versions.

Full details of the final 4CD package to follow.