Vini's FAC 227 Fact Ten

Following on from the recent Stupefied Playlist that Vini Reilly did for Stupefaction, we thought it would be good to revisit a vintage playlist from the old Factory days which was immortalised in the NME's Fred Fact page orchestrated by the legendary Fred Dellar. However, this was not any old edition it was the FAC 227 'Fred Fact' NME Feature Page(s).

By way of introduction, Fred wrote: "Vini, as you might imagine, has all-encompassing taste when it comes to record collecting. However, prompted to come up with an all-time Top Ten, he decided on the following:"

1 'Interesting Drug'
Morrissey (Parlophone)

2 'Black Dog' LP track.
Led Zeppelin (Atlantic)

3 'The Little Big Band' CD
Rob Gray (Factory)

4 '4th Symphony' Charles Ives

5 'There's A Riot Going On' LP
Sly And The Family Stone (Epic)

6 'Ram' LP
Paul McCartney Parlophone,)

7 'The White Album' LP
The Beatles (Parlophone)

8 'Maria Elena'
Los Indios Tabajaras (RCA)

9 'In The Depths Of The Temple', a duet from The Pearl Fishers by Bizet

10 'Then Play On' LP
Fleetwood Mac (Reprise)

Note that Morrissey is conspicuously absent from the later list...

The Website and Other Marketing Devices

Welcome to the new website! This is the first major refresh since 2008 when I took over proceedings and completely rebuilt and redesigned the old site (see below) in 2008.

Most new features (it's wider and there's more stuff and it works on mobile devices) will be obvious following a short explore so I will leave you to it.

If you spot any glitches or want to know more please email or tweet me.

Lest we forget

The Return of The Durutti Column FBN 114

Factory Benelux presents a new vinyl edition 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. This edition is released on 25 November 2013.

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 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 on Factory Benelux develops rather than replicates the original packaging. On the front cover, an 11-inch square sheet of coarse sandpaper is seated in a recessed deboss, while the back cover and inner sleeve feature period Durutti images by noted photographer Daniel Meadows. 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.

Tracklisting

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