The Durutti Column should
have been afforded a more prominent position in British rock
history than the footnote they have acquired. A loftier place
is deserved because in 1977 they were the first band to be
signed to Tony Wilson's legendary Factory Records label. Their
place in UK music history was finally acknowledged by the
making of the film, '24 Hour Party People', which celebrated
Wilson's chaotic record label. At the end of the film The
Durutti Column's mainman gets support from an impressive source
when God recommends: "Vinni Reilly is due a revival,
you might think about greatest hits, it's good music to chill-out
to".
Don't be fooled by the band name, what began as a group venture
quickly turned into a solo musical vision. The enigmatic Reilly
wrote, produced, and played all instruments on The Durutti
Column's new album 'Someone Else's Party'. It's the definition
of a home made album, as it was recorded on an eight track
porta-studio with additional effects produced by a variety
of household objects including battering books and flicking
sheets of paper.
The resulting sound from such strange recording techniques
is not as pared down as might be expected, because the collision
of conventional and bizarre instrumentation creates a complex
multi-layered final product. At the core of the album are
varied haunting guitar sounds, ambient beats and drum loops
which are enhanced by Reilly's whispered vocals.
The choice of album title could be interpreted as a comment
on '24 Hour Party People', but the recording as a whole is
an intensely personal concept album. Each track is Reilly's
response to the illness and eventual loss of his mother and
every song contains more sincere emotion than a skip-full
of Pop Idol releases. Final track 'Goodbye' includes gentle
acoustic guitar, bird song, and an answerphone message from
his mum. The message asks Vinni to call and finishes with
her saying goodbye to her son. It is too heartbreaking to
listen to more than once.
'Someone Else's Party' is an album that will perhaps only
find a place in the most eclectic record collections, with
greater record sales once again proving elusive, but then
for Vinni Reilly that is hardly the point.
Gavin Eves
