Durutti Column "Domo Origato" Reviews

THE DURUTTI COLUMN 'domo origato'
(IKON/Factory 144)

A transglobal affair from Mancunian bedroom guitarist Vim Reilly and his eccentric sidekick, percussionist Bruce Mitchell - this concert (filmed at Tokyo's Kani-hoken Hall), at least manages to avoid the usual IKON hallmarks of bad sound/lighting/camerawork et al.

Quite why we had to go to Japan to witness Vini's excellent guitar doodling isn't made dear, though one suspects the glamorous location (which we don't get to see), and the superior Japanese technical facilities, along with a misguided 'what we did on our hols' mentality, won the day.

The music itself is presented in all its naked glory, Reilly struggling to play keyboards and guitar at the same time, Mitchell doing his damnest to do an 'Elton In Moscow' on percussion, and some simple but effective trumpet and viola contributions from a suitably baggy-trousered Tim Kellet and John Metcalfe respectively.

Polite Japanese applause seems a reasonable reaction to 'Mercy Dance', and old faves like 'Missing Boy'. 'Queen live' this ain't and visually it doesn't warrant the use of the camera cranes and other effects employed. In fact, if ever a stage performance needn't have worried about the usual IKON lighting / sound and camerawork, this is it. What did you do on your hols Vini?

Andy Strickland

DURUTTI COLUMN

Domo Arigato: Live In Tokyo
(Factory Compact Disc)

TONY WILSON, I’m told, believes vinyl will soon become obsolete and has therefore released this 70-minute, four-piece Durutti concert on compact disc only. Such wilfully eccentric, not to say indulgent, behaviour at least confirms Dave McCullough’s description of Factory as “The Willy Rushtons of the music business”.

True, the quality of the recording (you can hear every handclap) and the CD’s virtual indestructibility are remarkable and, with 70 minutes of continuous music, the experience of the concert is faithfully repeated. But I wonder whether people will let such aesthetically sexless items replace records (even though the scientists, and indeed the industry, may have already made the choice for us). I can’t see why for now Factory can’t make a vinyl edition available.

The 'record’ itself, which takes us from the early exquisite sorrow of 'Sketch For Summer’ through to the shimmering muzak of 'The Room’ and both trumpet and viola versions of the recent 'Without Mercy’ provides a sedate but rather sterile representation of Vini Reilly’s lonely sketches of sadness. The 14 tracks add little atmosphere to the recorded versions, and with no 'Prayer’, 'Never Known’ or 'Lips That Would Kiss’, the selection seems a trifle average.

Even as a fan I can’t really see much use for it, but should any aggrieved Durutti fans be about to mortgage their mothers to buy a compact disc player and complete their collection, send me a C90 and I’ll tape it for you from my own review-cassette.

Jim Shelley