Club AC30 do a lot of good things, but their 3-night Reverence mini-festival is an act of near musical philanthropy. Now in its third year, the organisers have a knack of pulling in some of the most relevant and ground-breaking talent currently playing (or, more-impressively, not currently playing) the circuit.
This year's spectacular (hosted at the ever-inspiring ICA in London's West End) boasted a roster rich with established artists and exciting breakthrough talent. No evening epitomised this policy more than Sunday's closing night, with legendary Cocteau's maestro Robin Guthrie delicately drawing proceedings to a close, aided and abetted by the wonderful Heligoland.
However, it was the Sunday evening early-birds whose eager arrival perhaps bore the richest fruit; for they were rewarded with a glorious set from opening act Daniel Land & The Modern Painters. The Manchester five-piece are building a formidable reputation for lush, textured song-writing, epitomised by the 2009 release of their debut album, Love Songs for the Chemical Generation. The CD plays like a sonic hymnal, unabashed by its influences and inspiring in its originality. Land's slight, elegant vocals bobbing on the surface of a fluid stream of sound. It's consistent, it's powerful and at times it's blissful.
In truth, the album is so strong that picking a single track to showcase here is akin to snubbing a buxom brunette to run off with a leggy blonde. Benjamin's Room, Off Your Face Again and Codeine are all worthy of further investigation, but hell, you can do that yourself once you've bought the album... And you will, once you hear Glitterball.
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