Caught in flux
loteq | Regensburg | 03/10/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Less than one year after his triumphant comeback with "The guitar and other machines", guitarist Vini Reilly offers another excellent, very diverse album which manages to include some elements from the band's mid-'80s neo-classical sound while taking advantage of the latest in recording technology. Surprisingly, the heavy drum machine/sequencer arrangements of "The guitar.." are largely absent here, replaced by pearling piano chords and vocal samples from singers like Annie Lennox, Tracy Chapman, and Otis Redding. True to the nature of Durutti Column, it's not only Vini's unique way of guitar playing which provides the musical chemistry, but also the individualistic styles of the aforementioned vocalists and the way all these wildly varying approaches and sounds are put together. It does, however, become quickly apparent that this is not an album one can listen to and immediately accept -- the rhythms are complex and often odd, the vocals are used as another instrument,! dynamics and textures change from track to track, and there often seems to be a slightly unpolished nature to the music. As titles like "Love no more" and "Requiem again" indicate, the keynote of this album is very graceful and even a little more melancholic than your average DC disc. Some songs like "Pol in B", "Homage to Catalonea" and "They work every day" are characterized by this Mediterranean flavor so typical for other DC efforts like 1983's "Amigos em Portugal", 1990's "Obey the time", or his sporadic recordings for the Italian Materiali Sonori label. The edgy resonance and melodic power of Vini's work culminates with the epic, incredibly intense "Requiem again" and the album-closing "My country", two songs which will reduce you to tears because of their otherworldly beauty and the immanent melancholy and drama. Potential buyers should also be aware that this remastered reissue contains some additional music from 1989's "Sporadic Recordings", one of Vini's frequent ve!ntures outside the Factory Records enclave. While some of these mostly short compositions feel out of place and underdeveloped -- such as the hard-rocking and disturbing "Pathways" -- others fit together seamlessly and would make perfect sense on any regular studio album of the band; for example, "Real drums..." features one of Bruce Mitchell's tightest and most compelling rhythm backdrops. Overall, a solid, ambitious album which will primarily be of interest to fans of Vini's more acoustic and jazz-oriented side."
Charley Radtke
Charles M. Radtke | cedarburg, WI usa | 01/25/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Um, forgive me for slagging on another reviewer, but if you are into the Backstreet Boys, you simply will not get Vini and Co.
It was painful for me to read that review, so, I will hope that each of you see it for what it is, and listen to another point of view.
Vini and the Durutti Column rose out of the ashes of the Manchester Scene of the late 70's that produced Joy DIvision and A Certain Ratio, among others....... and Vini expanded on the intial idea that they put forth.... and expand he did.
This is music that takes several listens, to find the relationship between instruments, time signatures, emotion....
What you will find if you give it more than a 3 minute attention span, is sonic texture, subtle nuance..... lovely progressions....
Vini is a genius. It does not take a Backstreet Boy to know this!"
Track Listings (21) - Disc #1