Factory Friday, Durutti Column. Vini Reilly has made something near thirty albums as Durutti Column (him, usually drummer Bruce Mitchell, occasionally a few others). Inside those albums are hundreds of songs, that have attracted a wide variety of labels- post punk, modern-classical, jazz, dream pop- but as Vini has said, and I paraphrase, 'I don't know why people get so hung up about forms, they're all just silly tunes innit?'
In amongst all those hundreds of 'silly tunes' there are some moments of brilliance so beautiful words cannot do them justice. For Belgian Friends wasn't even on a proper album, appearing on the compilation release A Factory Quartet (FACT 24) alongside songs by Kevin Hewick, The Royal Family And The Poor and Blurt. It later turned up on Domo Arigato too. Donald Johnson of ACR plays drums on For Belgian Friends, and his rhythms give it a dancier sensibility, while Vini's guitar and piano play intertwining melodies. Martin Hannett is at the controls.
For Belgian Friends
This fan-made video is good fun.
I know woefully little Durutti Column music, but I well remember having to file away the sandpaper sleeved LP in my early days of working in a record shop. 'For Belgian Friends' is certainly a thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a sandpaper sleeve copy of the first album.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Adam
Beautiful and silly at the same time. Critics always took Duritti Column a lot more seriously than Vini Reilly did.
ReplyDeleteWe had the first album complete with sandpaper sleeve. It was an absolute bugger... (But still a great album.)
ReplyDelete