Episodes
Friday Nov 28, 2014
Full Interview: Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column
Friday Nov 28, 2014
Friday Nov 28, 2014
"I'm at a cafe right now that has good reception," Bruce tells me. "I'm going to get Vin, bring him right back here, and then call you." [So, how was your Saturday morning?] Half an hour later, he rings again. Vini's brought his phone, Bruce says. He's going to give me his number, and I'm to call him back. I do, and he's out of the gate like a thoroughbred.
Finally, after many missed connections, false starts, and bouts with business, depression (mine), and crippling shyness (mine again), I was talking--listening, mostly--to someone whose records I have carried with me for nearly thirty years.
This is the recording of my conversation with Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column
on November 22, 2014. For you gear-heads, this was a Skype-to-phone
interview. I was at Chez Bombast, or as Lady C calls it, "The Warren,"
and Vini was at the aforementioned hotspot. The audio has been compressed. Portions of this interview aired on the Hall of Legends
special featuring the music of The Durutti Column. If I recall correctly, the segments I used in the radio program were actually in "chronological" order, but that was an accident. At any rate, here's the whole thing.
It strikes me that talking to Vini Reilly, for someone like me, is a bit like an audience with royalty, or the Pope. You just let the other person talk about whatever he wants. That is pretty much what happened. But after multiple listens I find this to be holistic and probably more focused than what my "list of questions" would have produced. Considering what Vini says about the structure of a piece of music, this conversation is very much like that. Portions of this discourse reprise things Vini has said before, notably in the revelatory Town Hall conversation with Paul Haslam at the Campaign Against Living Miserably benefit in 2013, and elsewhere Vini shares some insights I had never heard or read from him before.
Here's a secret: I like to lurk at Steve Albini's studio discussion forum, waiting for the occasional pearl of wisdom. [Aside--don't you think a Durutti Column album recorded at Electrical Audio would be the fucking bomb? I do, but anyway.] Once, Albini suggested that an effective recording, regardless of production values, should give the listener some idea about the personalities of the people who wrote and played the music. I think this is a good litmus test for recorded music [albeit one of many]--sometimes it tells you, quite accurately, that you're dealing with jerks, and sometimes it tells you that it comes from warm, friendly, thoughtful people.
It hardly needs saying which kind Vini and Bruce are. Many thanks to them, for being willing and helpful. And to James Nice at Factory Benelux / LTM and to Phil Cleaver at Kooky for issuing / reissuing the tunes. And to you, for listening.
Thursday Nov 27, 2014
The Hall of Legends - The Durutti Column: Transmission 167, 2014 November 25
Thursday Nov 27, 2014
Thursday Nov 27, 2014
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:
- "Art And Freight" | The Durutti Column | Obey The Time | Factory
- "Fanfare" | The Durutti Column | Chronicle - 2011 Pre-release | Kooky
- "Geh Cak Af En Yam" | The Durutti Column | Rebellion | Artful
- "Only Love" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
- "Finding The Sea" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly | Factory Once
- "How Do U Think It's Going To Feel?" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
- "All That Love and Maths Can Do" | The Durutti Column | Without Mercy | Factory Once
- "Silent Nite" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
- "Tomorrow" | The Durutti Column | Circuses And Bread | Normal
- "Blue Period" | The Durutti Column | Sex and Death | Factory Too - FFRR
- "Real Drums - Real Drummer" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly | Factory Once
- "Sketch for a Manchester Summer" | Vini Reilly | The Sporadic Recordings | TTTTTTTT
- "In Memory Of Anthony" | The Durutti Column | Love In The Time Of Recession | Artful
- "Waiting 4 The Earth" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
- "One Christmas For Your Thoughts" | The Durutti Column | LC | Factory Once
- "Zinni Tune" | The Durutti Column | Return Of The Sporadic Recordings | Kooky | "Physical Evidence"
- "Fado" | The Durutti Column | Sex and Death | Factory Too - FFRR
- "The Room" | The Durutti Column | Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say | Factory
- "Diazepam 5mgs" | Vini Reilly | The Sporadic Recordings | TTTTTTTT
Tuesday Nov 25, 2014
Ruling Over Something, I Guess: Transmission 166, 2014 November 18
Tuesday Nov 25, 2014
Tuesday Nov 25, 2014
If it weren't for pronunciation--what's up, His Name Is Alive?--this would be a nearly perfect show. Good segues, "many moods and energies," a Legend contributing to the "Physical Evidence," such as it is--the whole deal. Exactly what the times demand.
Also, what serendipitous timing that the Fugazi "demos" album should come out during this particular week, since Ghost Lights, to my ear anyway, has a very Red Medicine feel to it, which is most welcome. Also also--"Drifting Way Out Between Suns," tonight's installment in the (unofficial) "Croix de Bombast" series, makes for terrific workout music, if I may say so. I am dead certain that was the intent.
As I write this, Thanksgiving week is upon us, which makes this most recent episode the final show of Bombastic Year Two. 93 shows, god help us. Here's hoping for a less frenetic Year 3, though it will start with a bang, I promise.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 November 18, 2100-2300:
- "It's Springtime, Baby" | Coitus Int. | Sex For The Wealthy | Desire
- "Schwerkraft" | Chogori | Chogori | Modularfield
- "Mr. Ramirez" | The Children | Ghost Lights | Division 68 | "Physical Evidence"
- "Familiar Stranger" | Institute | Salt EP | Sacred Bones
- "Underwater Lies" | Ernesto Ferreyra | Some Kind of Sign | Cadenza
- "Train (dub)" | The Children | Ghost Lights | Division 68 | "Physical Evidence"
- "Found My Place (feat. HEwrote)" | Alexander Skancke | Found My Place | Eskimo
- "Na Yafa (Tamana Dub)" | Studio Zuma | Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I | Glitterbeat
- "Drifting Way Out Between Suns" | Blown Out | Drifting Way Out Between Suns | Riot Season
- "Bang Bang" | Pharmakon | Bestial Burden | Sacred Bones
- "Into The Deep" | Oculus | 10 Yrs Systematic | Systematic
- "Stealing Cars" | Nadine Shah | not on album | Apollo
- "Fuzzy Glass" | The Children | Ghost Lights | Division 68 | "Physical Evidence"
- "Bleeding" | Necro Deathmort | EP2 | Distraction
- "I'm Getting Alone" | His Name Is Alive | Tecuciztecatl | Light In The Attic
- "Swim (Rival Consoles Mix)" | Douglas Dare | Caroline / If Only | Erased Tapes
- "Revenant - feat. Benoit Pioulard" | Future 3 | With & Without | Morr
- "Urge For Offal" | Half Man Half Biscuit | Urge For Offal | Probe Plus
- "Agape" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Asylum | Jnana
- "Sulu Sekou" | Call Super | Suzi Ecto | Houndstooth
- "Fromm" | Mouse On Mars & F.X. Randomiz | 21 Again Collaborations, Pt. 3 | Monkeytown
- "Turn Off Your Guns" | Fugazi | First Demo | Dischord
- "Reining Blood" | The Children | Ghost Lights | Division 68 | "Physical Evidence"
- "XIII" | Raspberry Bulbs | Privacy | Blackest Ever Black
- "Hypnotized" | Dream Police | Hypnotized | Sacred Bones
Thursday Nov 20, 2014
Half Of Your Sorrow Comes From The Sun: Transmission 165, 2014 November 11
Thursday Nov 20, 2014
Thursday Nov 20, 2014
We made it to the other side of the fundraiser, thank goodness. Also, winter is upon us. At least it is now. Was it a week ago? I don't remember. It might as well have been, how's that? At any rate, once you get past the first 7 minutes or so, this is a well-executed program. After I nearly play "Hot Dog" too early, the worst of it is listening to me struggling to pronounce things. It's good, in a way, that the show has some constants.
That Bhundu Boys record is one of those things I bought way back in the day and which inhabited a sort of trough of indifference in my world. Not good enough to be a chestnut, I thought, and not bad enough to jettison. I'll bet a couple of decades went by in which I didn't even play it once. I've only re-discovered it in the last few years, and it gets better with every listen. It's a sneakily good headphone record--it sounds like there's a flanger on some of the drum reverbs! Crazy production for an otherwise straightforward set of tunes.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 November 11, 2100-2300:
- "What You Used To Know" | CHLLNGR | Form Of Release | Time No Place
- "Baba Munini Francis" | The Bhundu Boys | Shabini | Discafrique | "Physical Evidence"
- "Hot Dog" | Buck Owens | The Other Side Of Bakersfield, Vol. 1 | Bear Family | "Listening Parlour"
- "4PM" | Camera | Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide | Bureau B
- "Up So High" | The Primitives | Spin-O-Rama 7" | Elefant
- "Agnes Revenge" | Objekt | Flatland | PAN
- "Wenhamo Haaneti" | The Bhundu Boys | Shabini | Discafrique | "Physical Evidence"
- "Sandalyon - SaffronKeira ReInterpretation" | Dusty Kid | Omega X | Isolade
- "My Cousin Kim" | The Gun Club | Mother Juno | Bang!
- "Where's The Tambourine?" | The Sex Rays | Midnight Caller 7" | Pinata
- "The Girl From Ipanema" | Big Star | Live In Memphis | Omnivore
- "Pachedu" | The Bhundu Boys | Shabini | Discafrique | "Physical Evidence"
- "Dif Juz" | The Mattson 2 | Agar | Um Yeah Arts
- "Untrust Us" | Capital Children's Choir | The 'Untrust' EP | Vinyl Factory
- "Keiler Aufgang" | Springintgut & F.S. Blumm | The Bird and White Noise | Pingipung
- "Manhenga" | The Bhundu Boys | Shabini | Discafrique | "Physical Evidence"
- "4blend" | (ghost) | A Vast And Decaying Appearance | n5MD
- "Ten Steps Up" | C.A.R. | My Friend | Kill The DJ
- "Fememorde" | Ides of Gemini | Old World New Wave | Sige
- "Unordinary Realities" | Transllusion | The Opening Of The Cerebral Gate | Tresor
- "Lights In My Brain" | Ultramarine | Every Man And Woman Is A Star | Rough Trade
- "Big Man" | Bugs & Rats | Adidas | Feeding Tube
- "Tudo que e solido" | Rakta | 7" | bandcamp self-release
- "St. Christopher 1.3" | 50 Foot Wave | "Night Blooming" - Works In Progress | not on label
- "Inreturn" | Tarwater | Adrift | Bureau B
- "Wake The Nation" | U Roy | Wake The Nation 7" | Jamaican
- "Dai Ndakaziva" | The Bhundu Boys | Shabini | Discafrique | "Physical Evidence"
- "Quixotism Part 5" | Oren Ambarchi | Quixotism | Editions Mego
- "Beach" | Ormonde | Cartographer / Explorer | Gizeh
- "Der Lude" | Phon.o | Werkschau03 | Shitkatapult
- "Grande Finale" | Munk | Chanson 3000 | Gomma
Friday Nov 14, 2014
Plant Lilies At My Head: Transmission 164, 2014 November 4
Friday Nov 14, 2014
Friday Nov 14, 2014
Here is a FUN(d)raising program, usually one of the lowlights of the year. I hate these money drives with all my heart. I became a Marxist not just because I hated Ronald Reagan but also out of a deep-seated belief that people ought to just give me stuff without my having to ask. I guess at this point there are about a half-dozen fundraiser programs in the archive, and this is nowhere near the worst, thanks mostly to Steph, who makes two brief appearances (can you hear my heart breaking when I find out she has to leave halfway through? There are only, maybe, four or five humans I can tolerate in the cockpit while I am DJing, so when one of them happens to be around, I don't want it to end).
Anyway, since I didn't have any luminaries on hand to perform in-studio, I thought I would roll out the second Festival Of Evidence, which is sort of what passes for a yearly roundup in these parts. I consider "best of" programs and lists more or less anathema to independent music (the Festive Fifty was...alright, I guess), and let's face it, "what I think" is less relevant than "what actually happened." Or, in some cases, what should have or almost happened, or what is about to happen.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 November 4, 2100-2300:
- "Summer Nights" | 14 Iced Bears | Alvin Lives (In Leeds) | Midnight
- "(Varoom!)" | Stereolab | Low Fi | Too Pure
- "CIRCLONT6A (syrobonkus Mix)" | Aphex Twin | Syro | WARP
- "Waterline" | A Certain Ratio | Sextet | Factory Benelux
- "Listen Up! (Quasar Mix)" | A.R.K. | Listen Up! | Rough Trade
- "Pete's Riff" | The Durutti Column | Red Shoes | Materiali Sonori
- "The Hardest Day" | Tropic Of Cancer | Restless Idylls | Blackest Ever Black
- "I Want You" | Spiritualized | Fucked Up Inside | Plain
- "Crystal Pond [excerpt]" | Imaginary Softwoods | The Path of Spectrolite | Archives Interieures
- "Thick And Thin" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Transmission" | Joy Division | The Complete BBC Recordings | True North
- "He Was" | © [Leslie Winer] | Witch | Transglobal
- "Mr. Romance" | The Children | Ghost Lights | Division 68
- "Grains Of Sand" | Opal | Early Recordings | Rough Trade
- "O.O.B.E. (live)" | The Orb | Volume 5 | Volume
- "Shift F1 (Inland Edit)" | Function | Synewave Reissues Part I: 1995-97 | Infrastructure New York
- "Plant Lilies At My Head" | Tropic Of Cancer | Restless Idylls | Blackest Ever Black
- "Untitled 4" | Laika + Luddite Machine | live in studio November 2013 | not on label
Monday Nov 10, 2014
Monday Nov 10, 2014
Here is a fill-in program that I did the night after an "alpha" program. Usually this is a bad idea, at least if we give credence to the idea that I need rest every now and then. But as usual there is less "pressure" on these extra shows, and I'm still coasting on upset-ness as well. Delirious? You betcha. Mischief? No, not anymore, I guess. I'm part of the establishment, or so I hear.
All of my "adult" peers at the station are telling me that these 11pm-1am shifts are too much for them. I have to admit I'm coming around to this line of thinking. Strangely it's harder for me to go to sleep when I get home after a 1am sign-off than at the usual time. If only that "second wind" were something I actually felt! I might actually manage to be productive in some capacity.
Oh, and sure enough, "Nautica" is clothing, and (please god) not a band. Sorry about that one.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 October 29, 2300-0100 2014 October 30:
- "Freedom Of The Floor (Bullion Remix)" | Nautic | Freedom Of The Floor (Bullion / Open Space Remixes ) / M.P.B (Missin' Persons Bureau) | Test Pressing Editions
- "Good Morning And Goodbye" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Pusher" | High Heels Breaker | High Heels Breaker | Drumpoet Community
- "Unter Holzern" | Tobias Thomas & Michael Mayer | Kompakt: Total 14 | Kompakt
- "Black Coffee" | Nearly God | Nearly God | Durban Poison - Island | "Physical Evidence"
- "Flying Sparks" | Egokind & Ozean | Transition | Traum
- "Euro Breakdown" | Ravioli Me Away | The Inevitable Album | Good Job
- "2AM" | Camera | Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide | Bureau B
- "Tattoo" | Nearly God | Nearly God | Durban Poison - Island | "Physical Evidence"
- "Enemies Of The People" | Not Waving | Intercepts | Ecstatic
- "Attends" | The Young Gods | Second Nature | Rustblade
- "Keep Your Mouth Shut" | Nearly God | Nearly God | Durban Poison - Island | "Physical Evidence"
- "The Same Blood" | Tony Allen | Black Voices | Kindred Spirits
- "You Concrete" | Lee Gamble | Koch | PAN
- "Plateau" | Conforce | Depth Over Distance | Delsin
- "Make A Change" | Nearly God | Nearly God | Durban Poison - Island | "Physical Evidence"
- "Enchained Tribe (Chapitre 1 & 2)" | Mr Raoul K | Still Living In Slavery - Pt. 1 | Baobab
- "Mekkin Histri" | Linton Kwesi Johnson | Di Eagle An Di Bear | Righteous Reggae
- "Judas" | Nearly God | Nearly God | Durban Poison - Island | "Physical Evidence"
- "The Only Chamber Resolve" | Prefuse 73 | The Only She Chapters | Warp
- "The Witching Hour" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Hallowe'en Special 2014 | Bandcamp self-release
Friday Nov 07, 2014
Dust Will Clear, Birds Will Sing: Transmission 162, 2014 October 28
Friday Nov 07, 2014
Friday Nov 07, 2014
I told you we would embark on a good run. This regular, Tuesday evening program featured some good segues, some crazy segues, and some segues that were a little bit of both. Also, we took some unusual departures into both metal and the oeuvre of Taylor Swift. Times have changed, apparently. I remember when well-timed unofficial releases would get you sued. But I digress. This was a quality program.
Lately the existential considerations have seemed a bit heavy. Haven't I done enough of this, I ask myself; what's left? What if it ended tomorrow? What would you do with yourself in that case? That sort of thing. At this time of writing I've done 164 of these hullabaloos, and preserved all of them, safely, forever, in the heaven of the spectacle internet. You know, I only have, like, seven cassettes of my old program from the 80s and 90s, and I probably did 300 shows back then. I'm never getting those other experiences back, no matter how many I do now. Where is this going?
Oh, screw it, there's another show next week. We both knew this.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 October 28, 2100-2300:
- "Bury Me With My Money" | Oozing Wound | Earth Suck | Thrill Jockey
- "We Are Never Getting Girl/Boygether" | David Rees | APHEX SWIFT | soundcloud self-release
- "Kumanda Kwa Bambo Wanda" | Ngozi Family | Day of Judgement | Now-Again
- "Skysailing" | Anomie | Permanent Revelation | All In Your Mind
- "Komakino" | Joy Division | Komakino | Factory US
- "Whats It About" | Ravioli Me Away | The Inevitable Album | Good Job
- "Faux" | John Beltran | Faux | Text | "Physical Evidence"
- "Back Talk" | Larry Achiampong | Glitterbeat: Dubs and Versions | Glitterbeat
- "Di Eagle An Di Bear" | Linton Kwesi Johnson | Di Eagle An Di Bear | Righteous Reggae
- "III (Part 5)" | Heat Leisure | III & IV | Thrill Jockey
- "Fruit Is Ripe" | Cut Hands | Festival Of The Dead | Blackest Ever Black
- "Your Funeral...My Trial" | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Your Funeral...My Trial | Mute
- "Looped" | Kiasmos | Kiasmos | Erased Tapes
- "Pleiades" | Jakob Skott | Taurus Rising | El Paraiso
- "Just Ask My Old Roommate, Man" | Spray Paint | Cussin' | Upset The Rhythm
- "Intro (feat. Andreya Triana)" | Karma Kid | Bird Of Prey | Future Classic
- "Faux - Four Tet Remix" | John Beltran | Faux | Text | "Physical Evidence"
- "Asiko" | Tony Allen | Black Voices | Kindred Spirits
- "Blood On The Quad" | Half Man Half Biscuit | Saucy Haulage Ballads | Probe Plus
- "Then It All Came Down (Parts 1-10)" | Wrekmeister Harmonies | Then It All Came Down | Thrill Jockey
- "Seeya Later" | Boards of Canada | Hi Scores | Skam