Durutti Column, The - The Return of the Durutti Column

Factory Benelux presents a new vinyl and CD editions of landmark album The Return of the Durutti Column, housed in a revised version of the iconic sandpaper sleeve first issued by Factory Records in January 1980.

A collaboration between virtuoso guitarist Vini Reilly and legendary Manchester producer Martin Hannett, The Return of the Durutti Column paired Reilly’s non-rock sketches with Hannett’s electronic textures to produce “perfectly realised, correctly ambient and inventive music” (NME). The infamous sandpaper LP sleeve was somewhat less user friendly. Inspired by a 1959 Situationist publication by Guy Debord and Asger Jorn, the relentless iconoclasts at Factory hoped that the abrasive packaging would destroy existing record collections.

This new 2013 edition LP on Factory Benelux develops rather than replicates the original packaging. On the front cover, an 11-inch square sheet of coarse glasspaper is seated beneath a die-cut based on the 1978 Factory 'bar graph' logo designed by Peter Saville. The bonus Hannett ‘test card’ flexidisc is now a hard vinyl 7” (with improved sound quality), while the album itself features two extra tracks, Madeleine and Lips That Would Kiss (previously issued as a separate 7-inch single on Factory Benelux in October 1980).

The inner bag also features extensive liner notes with quotes from Vini Reilly, Martin Hannett, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Daniel Meadows, John Brierley, Bruce Mitchell and members of Joy Division, who assembled most of the sandpaper originals. The new package is sealed in a heavy duty polythene wallet, thus ensuring that adjacent records in your collection remain intact.

This new 2014 edition CD on Factory Benelux includes the 9 tracks included on the first Factory pressing, as well as the six 6 tracks which formed side two of the rare second pressing. Also featured are the two Martin Hannett ‘test card’ flexi-disc tracks, and Madeleine and Lips That Would Kiss, both previously issued as a 12-inch single on Factory Benelux in October 1980.

The cover art of this new CD version restores the later jacket design issued by Factory, featuring three miniatures of paintings by Raoul Dufy. The booklet features period Durutti images by photographer Daniel Meadows, and extensive liner notes with quotes from Vini Reilly, Martin Hannett, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Daniel Meadows, John Brierley, Bruce Mitchell and members of Joy Division, who assembled most of the sandpaper originals.

LP tracklist:

Side 1:

1. Sketch for Summer
2. Requiem for a Father       
3. Katharine                          
4. Conduct                             

Side 2:

1. Beginning                          
2. Jazz                                       
3. Sketch for Winter    
4. Collette
5. In ‘D’
6. Lips That Would Kiss
7. Madeleine                           

Side 3:

1. The First Aspect of the Same Thing

Side 4:

1. The Second Aspect of the Same Thing 

CD tracklist:

1. Sketch for Summer                                               
2. Requiem for a Father                                           
3. Katharine                                                              
4. Conduct                                                                             
5. Beginning                                                              
6. Jazz                                                                           
7. Sketch for Winter                                          
8. Collette                                                                     
9. In ‘D’                                                                          
10. Lips That Would Kiss                                           
11. Madeleine                                                               
12. The First Aspect of the Same Thing                    
13. The Second Aspect of the Same Thing   
14. Untitled                                                               
15. Jazz                                                                      
16. Sketch for Winter                                                    
17. Collette                                                                   
18. Beginning                                                            
19. In ‘D’