Love in the Time of Recession - The Durutti Column Album Review

The Durutti Column

Album Review

Last year's "Sunlight To Blue" set on KookyDisc was an excursion into all of the best things about Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell and co and it earned very few accolades (apart from on this very site of course) which is typically unjust. After a short batch of gigs this year comes a collection of songs centred around Reilly's happiness with his new collaborator, Poppy Morgan, a young pianist who adds a chill to proceedings with wonderfully discordant piano and melancholy especially on "Wild Beast Tamed", the only full instrumental on the album. Vini pays homage to the man and friend who tried (in vain) to keep him playing the guitar (acheived) but to stop singing (failed) on the opening piece "In Memory Of Anthony" (after the late Anthony H Wilson, Factory Records supremo). Reilly sings and all is forgiven - in fact this entire album is rather reliant on the Vini tonsils in places.

"Painting" is such a pretty piece that evokes memories of early songs like "Tomorrow", "Never Known" and "Heard It Before" while the closing track, "Lock-Down" resonates with a warmth that is rare amongst DC 'songs'. Standout for me is "For Bruce", a track that pays respect to his long-time musical partner and genius of drums, Bruce Mitchell. Sampled voices and a tear-rendering hook from another world usher in the usual bewilderingly simple guitar-refrain that has been a trademark of theirs for the last 30 years or so.

But somewhere between the gracious textures of Poppy Morgan and the closing track, the album loses itself and I find myself skipping back to track 5 again......but then comes "Loser" which could almost be a single. The album won't gather many new fans but it is definitely a set worth repeated visits.

Paul Pledger