Convenanza is a project by Andrew Weatherall, as he looks back at the clutter of a life thoroughly lived and realising it’s too late to tidy it up in any meaningful way. And, according to the PR notes, this was an album that wasn't really planned. Instead: "Andrew yanked and pulled at the threads and added lyrical ideas until the ghosts of songs started to emerge. Refusing to concern themselves with any kind of structure, they scarpered when tedium threatened and let the music do what it wanted..." And that could be why I felt like the music was leading nowhere... it just... was. There's a feeling of apathy that runs throughout the songs, and this doesn't make for interesting listening.

Like all albums we get in for review, I listened to this LP on and off for a week and then solidly for another week. And, as I write this review, playing it again in the background, I'm no closer to knowing whether I like or dislike it. For me it doesn't do anything - it just drones on and on. There are moments of inspiration and bliss... but mostly there's just a dull, mindless sucking of your time.

The album contains 9 tracks (45 min, 45 sec) with the only memorable inclusions being 'Disappear' and 'Ghosts Again'. 'The Confidence Man' seems to pay homage to Pink Floyd's 'We Don't Need No Education'... And that was it. There wasn't much else I took away from this oddly thrown together collection of songs.

4

Nick Smithson