As the year grinds to a close and the music industry continues to collapse, it seems like a good idea to give some credit to a major label who actually went out and released a few interesting records in 2008. Someone in the A&R department at Island UK deserves something extra in their Christmas stocking this year, not because they did anything to increase sales or anything productive like that, but because they managed to convince the suits to sign some decent artists. Let’s take a look at our hero’s work….

Leon Jean-Marie - “Bring it On”
Best of this small batch is Leon Jean-Marie. His album Bent Out of Shape is a pleasing blend of Prince, Beck, Michael Jackson and a bunch of other cool stuff. Jean-Marie never just sounds like the result of a science experiment though, as he adds more than enough of an individual stamp to make the songs his own. This guy should really be huge. Watch the video here.

VV Brown - “Crying Blood”
VV Brown only has this one single to her name so far, but it’s an impressive debut. She’s cute, perky and sweet for sure, but Crying Blood is a great song that draws from lots of sources — 50’s pop chord changes in the chorus, the “Hey Ya” drum beat, Joe Meek keyboards, and girl group harmonies. Brown also has suitably tough vocals and really puts the song over. I dunno about that hairdon’t though….you can decide here.

Frankmusik - “3 Little Words”
It’s nothing new to take 80’s influenced electro pop and twist it into modern shapes. Frankmusik does it very well, though — better than most. His chipmunk vocals and hyperactive songs may rub people who like peace and calm the wrong way, but for those of us who like some clatter and day-glo nonsense in their pop music, he’s perfect. This video is deliberately awful, which makes it totally awesome.

 
Attic Lights - “Wendy”
After all this genre-bending and modern pop, how about some gentle guitar pop with big vocal harmonies to cool you out? Attic Lights must own every Teenage Fanclub record but, hey, so do I. Nothing wrong with that! Check the video here.