The Durutti Column - 2001-2009 (2009)

5CD box set of the albums released on Artful/Fullfill during the period 2001-2009.

AllMusic Review by Rick Anderson
Like Bill Frisell and Richard Thompson, Vini Reilly is one of very few instantly recognizable guitarists in pop music: you only need to hear a bar or two of his playing to realize it's him. And it's not just that he has a distinctively personal tone, though he does; it's also his unique fingerpicking style and his approach to arpeggiation that make his sound so personal and so viscerally appealing. While Durutti Column started out as a band, its membership eventually shrank to the point where it has become a vehicle for Reilly's musical projects and experiments, with which he is helped by a shifting cast of singers and accompanists, though his guitar playing is generally central. This five-disc box set is, as its title suggests, a compilation of his work during the period 2001-2009. It brings together five complete albums (Rebellion, Someone Else's Party, Keep Breathing, Idiot Savants, and Love in the Time of Recession), each packaged in a separate cardboard sleeve and each including several bonus tracks; unfortunately, there is no additional information about the musicians involved, recording dates, or any other liner notes. However, the music itself is consistently wonderful. Although every track is recognizably a Durutti Column piece, the stylistic range exhibited on these five discs is quite broad and includes funky electronica with vocal samples ("Better Must Come," "Let Me Tell You Something"), spacious dub ("Lock-Down," "Overlord, Pt. 1"), and ethnomusicological experimentation ("Protest Song") along with the bittersweetly contemplative guitar compositions that have been Reilly's stock in trade for nearly 30 years. Most musicians with a musical profile as unique as Reilly's would be difficult to listen to for five hours at a stretch, but this box is actually a pleasure to hear from end to end – a powerful testament to Reilly's skill as a composer, his range, and the fertility of his musical imagination.

Tracklist
Disc 1 (01:03:15)
1. 4 Sophia (04:24)
2. Longsight Romance (05:47)
3. Geh Cak Af En Yam (05:14)
4. The Fields Of Athenry (05:37)
5. Overlord Part One (04:25)
6. Falling (04:58)
7. Voluntary Arrangement (04:22)
8. Mello Part One (05:39)
9. Mello Part Two (04:20)
10. Protest Song (03:40)
11. Meschugana (04:24)
12. Everyone Loves Papa (XFM Session) (06:00)
13. Teresa (XFM Session) (04:25)

Disc 2 (01:16:52)
1. Love Is A Friend (04:22)
2. Spanish Lament (04:30)
3. Somewhere (03:52)
4. Somebody's Party (04:34)
5. Requiem For My Mother (04:23)
6. Remember (05:28)
7. Vigil (05:52)
8. Blue (04:55)
9. No More Hurt (05:34)
10. Spasmic Fairy (03:14)
11. American View (04:27)
12. Drinking Time (03:29)
13. Woman (06:54)
14. Goodbye (03:20)
15. Creole (XFM Session) (06:10)
16. Spasmic Fairy (XFM Session) (05:48)

Disc 3 (01:04:31)
1. Nina (03:52)
2. Its Wonderful (05:20)
3. Maggie (05:32)
4. Helen (04:47)
5. Neil (05:07)
6. Big Hole (05:17)
7. Let Me Tell You Something (07:02)
8. Lunch (03:55)
9. Gun (05:35)
10. Tuesday (04:31)
11. Agnus Dei (06:43)
12. Waiting (06:50)

Disc 4 (52:15)
1. Better Must Come (06:13)
2. Interleukin (For Anthony) (06:13)
3. Please Let Me Sleep (09:04)
4. 2 Times Nice (06:12)
5. No Last Surprise (05:43)
6. Gathering Dust (06:04)
7. Whisper To The Wind (08:31)
8. That Blows My Name Away (For Rachel) (04:15)

Disc 5 (01:11:41)
1. In Memory Of Anthony (06:11)
2. Rant (04:22)
3. More Rainbows (04:49)
4. I'm Alive (04:47)
5. For Bruce (06:08)
6. Painting (05:20)
7. Wild Beast Tamed (03:14)
8. Rainbow Maker (05:26)
9. My Poppy (03:21)
10. Loser (07:10)
11. Lock-down (07:07)
12. The Secret Between The Blade And Me (03:52)
13. Duet For Piano And Guitar (05:20)
14. Everybody's Laughing (I Don't Care) (04:34)