Avenue61 is a leading indie music site that specialises in album and gig reviews, breaking new bands, publicising events, and exclusive interviews with the leading cutting edge acts in the alternative music scene. Avenue61 covers a wide range of artists – some you would have heard of, some you won’t. Artists the site has reviewed recently include the Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Noisettes and Ladyhawke. The site is updated regularly so come back to catch up the latest news and reviews from the bleeding edge of the alternative music scene.

Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

Patch William

"Might Patch William be the next big thing? They seem rather wonderful to me." After years of watching QI and becoming a fan of the genius that is Stephen Fry, I'm lead to believe that anything the man says is true. Completely true. As a result, Patch William are rather wonderful. Fact.

Brothers William and Ed Adlard (guitar/vocals and drums respectively) became inspired to form a band through a love of Jimi Hendrix at the tender ages of 12 and 15. As they grew they clearly took more and more inspiration from the modern trends, but don't be fooled, there is still pure rock n' roll here - it's just not as messy and clear cut as you'd expect. "The Boy with the Guitar" for example has clear garage rock influences, and a whopping blues solo, this band have modern and classic mixed so perfectly it's hard to believe what you hear. However, this band isn't afraid of its powers and from their first gig in 2007 the band have impressed wherever they go. Even a stunning performance on the BBC Introducing spot really shows the musical talent the band possess. However, there is always a flaw. Nothing is as it originally seems and after several listens the weakest link in the structure is, for me, the vocals. They carry no weight, little emotion, in fact if you replaced Will Adler with Luke Pritchard from the Kooks (of whom I'm not a fan) I wouldn't be able to notice. That's a pretty big downfall considering the brilliance of pretty much everything else, but the music is good enough to carry such a problem.

With an album and single released through iTUNES alongside positive reviews there shouldn't be anything slowing down Patch William's journey. And if there is one rule that the band prove most, it's that female bass players are cool. No matter how good the band, how outlandish the music or style, women bass players are just - for some reason - cool. Ali Digby is no exception. Overall, Patch William have the skill to do as they please, they sure as hell are talented but I'd just wish they'd play more garage type material (such as the already mentioned "The Boy with the Guitar") and less of the mainstream indie that you can pick up anywhere else without difficulty. However, as Stephen Fry says, altogether they do seem rather wonderful.