The Durutti Column: "The Guitar and Other Machines"

Now it's time for you to meet The Durutti Column. One of the first bands to be signed to the legendary Factory Records in Manchester, The Durutti Column is a musical project fronted by Vini Reilly with a rotating group of support and studio musicians. Reilly plays guitar...well, maybe play is a bit of a misnomer: he plucks, he caresses, he shakes, he stretches, he sculpts the guitar into alternative paradigms of what a guitar can do.

My favorite Durutti Column release is the haunting masterpiece "The Guitar and Other Machines" from 1987 which utilizes Reilly's amazing guitar techniques and textures (and his murmured, shy vocals) but also synthesizers, viola, harmonica, and piano to startling, enigmatic effect. There really is no other band who has made music like this, then or since...

Here are some highlights from the album.

"What Is It To Me (Woman)"

"Don't Think You're Funny"

"Jongleur Grey"

"Red Shoes"

"Bordeaux Sequence"

"Miss Haymes"

"English Landscape Tradition"

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