The Durutti Column - biography
[with minimal touch-up; accompanying "Fidelity" courtesy Crepuscule]

Durutti Column, taking its name from the anarchist brigade of the
Spanish Civil War, were formed in 1978 in Manchester mostly by Vini
Reilly, a guitarist-pianist who has established a small but luminous
reputation; the first year of their existence he was the band's only
member.  Turning his back on punk's angst, Reilly opted for a music of
melancholia and poignancy.  As a member of the influential Manchester
avant garde rock scene he has commanded more attention for his
tranquil, unassertive music; "punk was valid for maybe the first six
months".

Their first LP, 'The Return of the Durutti Column' (1980) consolidated
their reputation as one of the most important of the Factory records
school of bands that also included Joy Division.  That LP remained in
the independent Top Twenty for over a year.  Its sparse
instrumentation, quiet dignity and erotic, milky soundscapes came as a
shock in the noisy post-punk era; it was a blast as radical and as
shocking as punk itself, and remains a tribute to the imagination and
courage of Factory's first early rumblings.

Over the course of his career, he has recorded for at least ten
different labels more than eight albums, not to mention maxis, live
recordings and a great number of compilations as "From Brussels with
Love", "The Fruit of the Original Sin" and "Ghosts of Christmas Past"
released by Crepuscule.

For 15 years now Vini Reilly, the multi-instrumentalist has been
creating a music that defies categorization and which is steeped in
Vini's own very modest spirit.  Sometimes sad, sometimes svelte and
bouncy, sometimes plangent, sometimes into timidity.  Vini evidently
thinks in terms of variations rather than change.  He manages to
create some flowing, atonal harmonies which reflect his frame of
reference - an unlikely combination of despair and sentimental
frailty.

"When I was younger my father wouldn't allow us to have a television
in the house, so listening to music and playing it was our way of
entertaining ourselves.  I used to like listening to Fats Waller, Art
Tatum, a lot of opera and 20th century composers like Benjamin Britten
- they were the sort of people who first influenced me.  We listened
to a very wide range of music, but never really pop or rock.  I
suppose as a consequence of that I always seem to hear things in a
classical kind of way.  So the biggest influence on the way I play is
the way I hear things.  I don't hear music in the black blues or
pentatonic scale, but in a more 'classical' way.  That's the best way
I can describe it."

When it comes to minimalism Vini Reilly stands, almost literally,
alone.  Over three albums, as many wistfully melodic singles and
drummers, the sound of Durutti Column remains the hypnotic,
uncluttered water colour provided by his wavering ghostly guitar and
electronics.  The Durutti Column make structured music that is
romantic and somehow pastoral.  This is no rock music, not even pop
music, but nearer to classical music.

Vini Reilly's frail, filigree guitar style, gives depth to
atmosphere.  He discards the backing rhythm tapes and has brought in
the solid percussive talents of drummer Bruce Mitchell.  Vini also
used piano, violinist Blaine Reininger, oboeist Maunagh Fleming, bass
and singing, mood music of rare merit.  Utilising an approach which is
closer to the structured framework of Spanish classical music than
anything in rock.  Jazz tinged and deliberately hesitant.

Like certain blues guitarists (J. B. Lenoir for example), Reilly's
fingers seem to fall on the strings in a particular way, and the
individual character of his music is also enhanced by his attractively
decayed guitar tone, to which small amounts of reverberation and
phasing are added.  In fact, he is more concerned with the spirit of
his guitar than the acrobatic speedy fingers can make it perform, his
multi-tracked and treated percussive guitar creates spellbindingly
romantic/tragic popsongs, the dance beat supplied by live or
mechanical drums.

His voice is haunting toneless, sad and introspective but Reilly's
timid manner is what makes him appealing.

It's not the most accessible music around, but according to Vini
Reilly, "if you give people credit for having a little intelligence
and a little imagination, they will get into the most obscure things.
The grace and delicacy of their songs, rippling guitar and soft
singing hinted at subtle pleasures and emotions".


"Circuses and Bread" (1986) are short tracks, as real pop songs:
Pauline (violin + guitar), Tomorrow (Flute + guitar), Hilary (trumpet
+ guitar), Royal Infirmary (piano + guitar), Dance I and Dance II,
Black Horses and Elevator Girl Osaka (percussions + drum).
In 1993, Crepuscule decided to re-release this album on CD.

"Lips That Would Kiss":  This 19-track collection compiles a variety
of singles, compilation cuts, outtakes and most of an unreleased 1983
album, "Short Stories for Pauline".  As usual, matching his guitar
playing against a variety of non-rock instruments like violas, harps
and Bruce Mitchell's very jazzy drum.

Now in 1996, the new & long awaited album of The Durutti Column
"Fidelity" mixes smoothly actual dance beats with the unique style of
Vini Reilly's guitar.  Additionally some titles are enlightened by
Ellie Rudge's pure & fragile vocals.  The result is a collection of
anytime melodies with today's sounds.

Discography
TWI 988-2  The Durutti Column  Circuses and Bread    CD
FBN 2 CD   The Durutti Column  Lips That Would Kiss  CD
TWI 976-2  The Durutti Column  Fidelity              CD