The Hall of Legends - The Durutti Column: Transmission 167, 2014 November 25

We herewith induct The Durutti Column into the BOMBAST Hall of Legends, where they join John Peel, Breathless, This Mortal Coil, The Wolfgang Press, The Dub Syndicate, A.R.Kane, Little Annie, Dif Juz, Prince Far I, Coil [part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4], Billy Childish, Stereolab [charter members], and The Fall [charter members].

Welcome, first-time visitors! Enjoy whatever on this site strikes your fancy. The hyperlink above will take you to a loose description of the Hall of Legends, and this page describes the "idea" of the show, such as it is. The prose you find everywhere on the site is mostly for my own entertainment, since this is my outlet; if you enjoy it, that's a nice bonus, and you're welcome. Audio's at the bottom of the post, so scroll down whenever my words bore you.

Quite early on I said that this special was a thing that needed to happen. It was delayed by my own sloth and nervousness, and of course by Vini Reilly's circumstances. But happily, and totally unbeknownst to me prior to speaking with Vini, those are improving. As to my own stuff, don't even ask!

It doesn't need saying that The Durutti Column's music is unique, but it is unique to me in a personal way. So much of the music I embraced in my formative years, and which still matters to me, came into my life with the help of some close friend or other; you might say my experience was curated in some way. But Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say was a mystery beckoning me from the rack in my hometown record store. Seeing "fac 114," I knew it was the same label as the New Order and Joy Division records I loved, but there was no information hinting at what the record was like, just a brilliantly simple design. These were the days when you could trust design. I picked it up knowing nothing else about the contents other than that the experience they gave me would be mine, first-hand.

Having participated very loosely in the old Durutti Column email discussion group in the internet's early days, I discovered that people come to the DC for different things. There are fans who love the acoustic pieces most of all, or at least the pieces without drum machines. But SWYMMWYS is a drum machine record, big-time. I have always been drawn to these records--Fidelity, Obey The Time, Greetings--that remind me of this, although I like everything that Vini Reilly does and over time I have come to appreciate what a monster drummer Bruce Mitchell is. But this EP, on first listening, sounded like nothing I'd ever heard, DMX or no. It was, as another legend has said, music you could lose yourself in, and I certainly have!

Needless to say the musical selection from this program is...odd, I guess? But as I say I've already used LC, Chronicle XL, and Red Shoes as the "Physical Evidence" component of other programs. As for the rest of it, there's no "best of" thinking at work here, just some old chestnuts. Make your own mix if you don't like mine!

BOMBAST playlist, 2014 November 25, 2100-2300:

1. "Art And Freight" | The Durutti Column | Obey The Time | Factory
2. "Fanfare" | The Durutti Column | Chronicle - 2011 Pre-release | Kooky
3. "Geh Cak Af En Yam" | The Durutti Column | Rebellion | Artful
4. "Only Love" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
5. "Finding The Sea" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly | Factory Once
6. "How Do U Think It's Going To Feel?" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
7. "All That Love and Maths Can Do" | The Durutti Column | Without Mercy | Factory Once
8. "Silent Nite" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
9. "Tomorrow" | The Durutti Column | Circuses And Bread | Normal
10. "Blue Period" | The Durutti Column | Sex and Death | Factory Too - FFRR
11. "Real Drums - Real Drummer" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly | Factory Once
12. "Sketch for a Manchester Summer" | Vini Reilly | The Sporadic Recordings | TTTTTTTT
13. "In Memory Of Anthony" | The Durutti Column | Love In The Time Of Recession | Artful
14. "Waiting 4 The Earth" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
15. "One Christmas For Your Thoughts" | The Durutti Column | LC | Factory Once
16. "Zinni Tune" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Fado" | The Durutti Column | Sex and Death | Factory Too - FFRR
18. "The Room" | The Durutti Column | Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say | Factory

underscoring:

• "Diazepam 5mgs" | Vini Reilly | The Sporadic Recordings | TTTTTTTT

next time: who cares? Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis