durutti column Sunlight to Blue ... Blue to Blackness (CD, £13.25)

This was one of the more upbeat title suggestions for this very bare, back to basics, reflective album from The Durutti Column. Vini Reilly has recorded under the name The Durutti Column since 1978 and has a rich portfolio of work, releasing over 15 albums in this time, but Reilly has been through some dark times the past year. In a conscious response to his last two polished and studio-based releases he has created some sparse, simply beautiful 'sketches' as he once called them, more reminiscent of his work from the early eighties. Many of the pieces are simply instrumentals played on his Juan Montero flamenco guitar, and he returns to 'Without Mercy' for the last track 'Grief' and reinvents 'Never Known' from LC. This release also sees the debut of a talented young pianist and singer, Poppy Morgan, who co-wrote the melancholy Ananda as a duet with what Reilly dryly calls 'intrusive guitar'. For the uninitiated, Vini was the first artist signed to Manchester’s influential Factory Records, co-wrote and played on Morrissey’s first solo album ‘Viva Hate’, and was heavily featured in the film about Manchester music culture, ’24 Hour Party People’. Ever critical of Vini’s voice, but ever a fierce champion of his talent, the late Tony Wilson would surely have appreciated this return of The Durutti Column.