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>>

Aarghh. What are The Pussycat Dolls to do? First Lady Gaga and now London’s popular VV? Their songwriters are dropping like flies, straight into the arms of their own pop careers too. God forbid, the Dolls will have to start writing their own material.

Having, at first, been unsuccessfully harangued into the role of a semi-naked R&B diva [not unlike The Pussycat Dolls, I imagine] by her record label, Crying Blood, is the result of VV Brown’s second attempt at a pop career.  This, apparently, is VV being true to herself. How convenient that ‘herself’ is a quirky female solo artist with a hint of 1960’s soul throwback. Not that they’re currently dominating the UK music scene or anything.

The upbeat vibe of the current single, a

modern version of a 60’s novelty dance tune, happily distracts from the somewhat disturbing imagery suggested in the song’s title. Surely, if VV were to see globs of blood in place of her tears, the result would not be so danceable. But nitpicking aside, with lyrics like “Obviously it is hard to see that the sun will never shine when we are together, how can you be so ignorant to the fact that I'ma be in this pain forever”, scorned girlfriends can simultaneously blub their brokenhearted eyes out whilst throwing down some serious shapes on the dancefloor.

But in an industry that often typecasts black females into being cookie cutter versions of Beyonce and Rihanna, it’s not surprising that London’s popular VV Brown is ramming her kooky credentials down our throats. Hell, even Rihanna is trying not to be to Rihanna with all the chains and spikes gear she’s been sporting lately. In numerous articles claiming VV as the “one to watch’ for 2009, the words ‘mad’ and ‘edgy’ seems to be the words du jour. An obsessive claim to nerdiness is always backed up by a reference to her retro keyboard collection. And if you read between the lines, it says ‘I AM NOT NOW, NOR WILL I EVER BE CHRISTINA MILIAN’ in big, bold lettering.

Besides the UK soulstress trend and a catchy but quickly irksome vibe not dissimilar to The Ting Tings, VV also follows a current trend for acts such as Little Jackie, J*Davey and Tamar Kali; notably all members of Afro Punk, a movement that champions alternative black artists. In particular, VV Brown is walking a similar line to another Afro Punker, Janelle Monae, currently signed to Bad Boy Records. Unfortunately for VV, Janelle’s version of 60’s electro-soul, her quirky haircut and affected dance moves are all of a higher standard.