Daniel Land and the Modern Painters – The Voss EP

Here is a Manchester band who are either doing something different or treading a well worn path, depending on your point of view. Most bands of the moment seem more consumed by the twang and the riff and making their guitars go ping, so its refreshing to come across a band who are more interested in the texture of sound and how to layer their music into what the press used to lovingly refer to as “Cathedrals of Sound”. The Voss EP, their debut release, takes you back to the heady days of shoegaze. This was a time of serious young men in cardigans and striped fisherman shirts, stamping down on the reverb with pained expressions and considered intent.

Daniel Land and the Modern Painters are very evocative of that era, which is fine by me. It reminds me of dreamy afternoons listening to Slowdive, and the songs on here are every bit as good as those found on the Reading outfits second album Souvlaki. “Within The Boundaries” is a beautiful piece, heavy on the echo, slowly taking its time to build as the guitars shimmy against the groan of the bass. It is a wonderful piece of work and the best thing on the EP. “Lostening” is even slower, almost funereal, with tapped out drums and a more considered guitar line. “The Magic in my Head” drifts along like silk, unwinding with a chiming melody and a soft percussion pattern.

This EP is completely out of fashion with the popular music of today, bearing no relation to anything else being made. And I love it to pieces. Take a look at their Myspace page for more details.
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Links
Daniel Land [myspace]