NME Awards 2009

Ahh, the NME awards. If anything is capable of making me feel old, even at the age of 20, it's the NME awards. There was a time a few years ago when, to me, everything printed in the NME was gospel; everything they thought was cool, I thought was cool. Everyone has their own vrsion of this at some point, but for me it was the NME, and I always loved seeing the nominees for the awards every year.
Now that I feel so painfully out-of-touch with it all (I've only just discovered that Glasvegas are actually quite listenable) they don't mean so much to me, as I usually haven't heard of most of the people nominated, but I'm starting to feel like maybe I underestimate just how much of it actually sinks in. I've heard of most of these.
So, here are the nominees and, as with the Brit awards, my suggestions for who should win (in bold and italics this time, as it wasn't that clear on the BRITs post), and possibly even a little explanation; we'll see how it goes

Best British Band supported by Shockwaves
Bloc Party
The Last Shadow Puppets
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(They may not have done much this year, but Muse will always win this category for me).


Best International Band supported by 4music
Crystal Castles
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
(Am I at all predictable?)

Best Solo Artist
Ladyhawke
Laura Marling
Lightspeed Champion
Jay-Z
Pete Doherty
(It was very close between Ladyhawke and Jay-Z, but 'Paris is Burning' was too good not to be recognised)

Best New Band supported by Bench
Glasvegas
Late Of The Pier
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
White Lies

Best Live Band supported by Red Stripe
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(Muse should continue to win this award every year from now until the end of time).

Best Album supported by HMV
Bloc Party – 'Intimacy'
Glasvegas – 'Glasvegas'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Kings Of Leon – 'Only By The Night'
Oasis – 'Dig Out Your Soul'
(Since I deprived them on the BRIT awards list, I'll give this one to The Killers, as I loved 'Day & Age).

Best Track supported by NME Radio
Kings Of Leon – 'Sex On Fire'
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'The Age Of The Understatement'
MGMT – 'Time To Pretend'
The Ting Tings – 'That's Not My Name'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'
(Surely no explanation needed?)

Best Video supported by NME TV
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'My Mistakes Were Made For You'
Late Of The Pier – 'Heartbreak'
Oasis – 'The Shock Of The Lightning'
Radiohead – 'House Of Cards'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'
(It pains me to do this. I HATE Radiohead, but that is one damn good video)

Best Live Event
Glastonbury
Isle Of Wight
Reading and Leeds
T In The Park
V Festival
(Because it's the one I go to every year)

Best TV Show
Gavin & Stacey
The IT Crowd
The Mighty Boosh
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
Skins
("Down with Thatcher!")

Best Film
The Dark Knight
Juno
Quantum Of Solace
Twilight
Wall-E
(Juno: one of those films that seemed alright at the time, then you look back and go "Wow, that girl is intensely annoying").

Best Dancefloor Filler
Bloc Party – 'Mercury'
Crystal Castles – 'Courtship Dating'
Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris – 'Dance Wiv Me'
Friendly Fires – 'Paris'
Late Of The Pier – 'Bathroom Gurgle'
(I've actually heard that song! Good video too: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tw-E-JOTgE ).

Best DVD
Arctic Monkeys – 'At The Apollo'
Foo Fighters – 'Live At Wembley Stadium'
Kaiser Chiefs – 'Live At Elland Road'
Muse – 'HAARP'
The Rolling Stones – 'Shine A Light'
(I haven't seen any of these so shan't cast an opinion, but I can almost guarantee Muse deserve it)

Hero Of The Year
Alex Turner
Barack Obama
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher
(Because anyone who thinks Noel Fielding deserves this more than Barack Obama needs to grow up)

Villain Of The Year
Amy Winehouse
George Bush
Gordon Brown
John McCain
Pete Doherty
(...Sarah Palin, anyone?)

Best Dressed
Alex Turner
Alexa Chung
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher
(I do love a nice suit. Particularly if it has a bit of added flair. Sequins, for example)

Worst Dressed
Amy Winehouse
Brandon Flowers
Johnny Borrell
Katy Perry
Pete Doherty
(He dresses the same as Pete Doherty, but Pete's a crack addict. What's Borrell's excuse?)

Worst Album
Britney Spears – 'Circus'
Coldplay – 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'
Jonas Brothers – 'A Little Bit Longer'
Razorlight – 'Slipway Fires'
Scouting For Girls – 'Scouting For Girls'
(Possibly the worst band of all time. The Jonas Brothers are pretty offensive also)

Worst Band
Fall Out Boy
Jonas Brothers
Oasis
Scouting for Girls
Tokio Hotel
(Give it a rest, would you?)

Sexiest Male
Carl Barat
Keith Murray
Matt Bellamy
Miles Kane
Pete Doherty
(Add lots of exclamation marks to that. Possibly the most beautiful man in the whole entire world ever).

Sexiest Female
Alison Mosshart
Hayley Williams
Kate Jackson
Lykke Li
Stephanie Dosen
(Not even a contest)

Best Website
Bebo
Facebook
Last FM
MySpace
YouTube
(Because if I'm going to fail my degree for anything, it may as well be amusing videos).

Best Venue
Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo
London Astoria
Glasgow Barrowlands
London O2 Arena
(I've only ever been to the Astoria. Are they actually expecting fair voting on this? I wonder how many people have actually been to all of those places).

Best Album Artwork
The Cure – '4:13 Dream'
Guillemots – 'Red'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Muse – 'HAARP'
We Are Scientists – 'Brain Thrust Mastery'
(Because it's the only funny one)

Best Band Blog
Foals
Lightspeed Champion
Little Boots
Noel Gallagher/Oasis
Radiohead
(.....?)

The Godlike Genius award is being given to The Cure, who deserve it after all this time.
Voting is open on NME.com now and the awards take place at London's Brixton Academy on February 25th.