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>>

It seems that, to all intents and purposes, ‘The Walkmen’ are a musical contradiction. Simply by listening to songs from the bands latest full length, ‘You & Me’, It would be damn-near impossible to tell whether or not this LP had been discovered on some obscure vinyl format dating back decades or it’s an exercise in post-modernism that sets The Walkmen light-years ahead from the rest of the Indie-rock pack. Either way, The Walkmen are one of the most intriguing bands you’ve probably never heard.

It’s hard to categorise a band who have so neatly carved their own little niche in the New York City musical underworld, and this is probably what has caused so many critics to name ‘You & Me’ as one of their Top 10 albums of 2008, most notably NPR World Café & Pitchfork Media both heralding ‘You & Me’ as one of the best albums. No mean feat considering giants of American Indie-rock such as Kings of Leon & Death Cab           

for Cutie both share spots upon NPR’s Coveted top 10. The band can easily revert from Rock & Roll classicism in the vein of Cohen, Dylan etc. to unashamedly brash & vibrant, Indie Leanings of ‘Harmacy’ era Sebadoh. It’s undeniable that this fervent format serves as the perfect vehicle for the bands overtly simplistic, idiosyncratic song-writing style.  

‘You & Me’ is an album of such understated beauty. An album so minimalist, yet deeply layered, that it does not have to try to be beautiful, it just is The Walkmens musical contradiction being played out with every track. Songs such as ‘Canadian Girl’ demonstrate the contradictory nature of the band perfectly. The opening line; ‘You are the morning, I am the night’ seems to set the tone for the musical antithesis in play not only throughout ‘Canadian Girls’ but also ‘You & Me’ as a whole. Whilst Listening to the song what strikes you most is how intimate & smouldering it is, whilst seeming to be extrovert & distanced. Angular yet mercurial. Mature yet displaying a youthful exuberance. The Walkmen have finally hit their musical stride and in doing so maintain an air of confidence which was lacking in some of their earlier, more raucous work. Every so often it’s possible to hear The Walkmen channelling something far greater than themselves, something bigger, something more profound than the heights that even ‘You & Me’ reaches.

Despite universal critical appraisal it seems unlikely that The Walkmen will ever receive the same amount of commercial success. And I say ‘good’. If everyone had heard The Walkmen it may destroy the intimacy & majesty of discovering them, and having them all to oneself!