The Durutti Column | Chronicle XL

The great Vini Reilly

Special and expanded version to acknowledge the artists sixtieth year of his life; thus Chronicle XL. The Original Commission - The partly autobiographical album was first commissioned for a performance in April 2011 at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. During this period, Vini and Poppy (his girlfriend of 9 years) parted company and it was a heartbroken Vini that went on to complete the production. Despite the breakup, Poppy had agreed to perform on piano that evening for two of the songs that she had written with Vini accompanying on guitar. Over the following three years, the artist has battled serious illness and has not played a full show since. It was – and still is – a very difficult time physically, mentally and emotionally for Vini Reilly. The compositions reflect a particular stage in Vini’s recent life.

At the Bridgewater Hall show, a pre-release limited edition CD was available exclusively for that show, with a note by Vini explaining the background to the new work. Whilst Chronicle began as an autobiographical project, events in his life during recording the album brought a new twist to the project. Chronicle 1 and LX: Chronicle 2 – The Music. Bruce Mitchell (Drums and Percussion) "So there are two versions of Chronicle. We did a special edition for the gig at the Bridgewater Hall, where people could get the album as part of a premium ticket deal. In 2011, we premiered the music there, with all Vini's photographs up on the screen. That was the last gig really. The following day, Phil Cleaver from Kooky said he'd got back home to find his emails full of requests from the audience to buy one. So they all sold out, immediately. But soon afterwards Vin became really ill." "It was a big, expensive recording, Chronicle.

And Vin, despite being ill, did this further version, taking all aspects of musical life. So there's Chronicle 1 and Chronicle 2. What I wanted Vini to do as a composer was something similar to Elgar’s Enigma Variations. A piece of music about certain people in a life. I wanted him to do this and link the music to photographs he'd taken over the years. Vin's a great photographer." However, Reilly remains the Durutti Column's indisputable leader, and had the last say. Bruce continues: "I didn't quite get what I wanted, because in the end, Vini wanted the album to be about his life at this point in time. We couldn't finish it for a while because Vin was in such a bad way. But now it's there. And we've got some very interesting, very powerful music on this. Vini doesn’t think show business. To him, it’s all about a musical imperative."

Kooky – Kookydisc 60
Format: 2 x CD, Album Box Set

Country: UK
Released: 6 Jun 2014

Genre: Jazz, Rock
Style: Indie Rock, Experimental