The Durutti Column

One of the earliest and most enduring creative acts springing from Manchester's Factory Records scene, the Durutti Column started out in the late '70s as an actual band, and quickly evolved into a more nebulous arrangement of guitarist Vini Reilly and a host of collaborators. Reilly's haunting, innovative guitar pieces are multi-tracked, and sometimes mesh with guest vocals, string instruments, samples, and loops. His ambient approach has always stood apart from the trends of the day, and his discography is astonishingly consistent in quality. Reilly remained highly productive during the first decade of the 21st century, but after 2010's elegiac A Paean to Wilson, his activity slowed down, primarily due to health issues.