Just a month since the Woodleigh Research Facility album and now Andrew Weatherall and Nina Walsh follow it with a second record. Convenanza is out under Weatherall's name but the personnel is pretty much the same as WRF. A couple of the tracks are sonically in that same groove, the dub bass and drum machine backing joined by some early ACR like guitar, some wandering trumpet and on Thirteenth Night a track that picks up almost exactly where Screamadelica's Shine Like Stars left off. Weatherall's vocals give this a more song based feel even if the musical backing doesn't follow any strict verse-chorus structure, with phrases and lines plucked from his notebook. The Confidence Man sounds almost like a late period Clash remix, where a song turns into an extended groove. There's a lot to enjoy in both albums, music from the margins (or South London) you can get lost in.
There's an interesting interview with Andrew and Nina here if you're after more background to the both records. There's also a laid back but righteous hour long mix from Lord Sabre here, made up of records unearthed when he was forced to relocate from his studio last year. Final thought- can we now expect a new Weatherall album on a monthly basis?
SA you are so on point here. I certainly hear ACR and dubby Clash all through this! its 2016 but this sounds so very much 1980!!
ReplyDeleteMy lp eventually arrived from Rough Trade today ordered way back last year. RT are a bit pish with their service, will be using Piccadilly for everything in future as this is not the first time I've had to wait ages.
ReplyDeleteThe music is brilliant particularly loving Frankfurt Advice. Weatherall's voice improving with age.