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“The media spotlight will move away every now and then, but guitar music is essential and it will always be there."
——Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil

NME READERS CHOOSE BIFFY CLYRO AS BEST BRIT BAND

Stones, Florence Welch Double Winners,
Johnny Marr Named Godlike Genius
Biffy Clyro was named Best British Band at the NME Awards last Wednesday night in London. The Scottish group, who opened the show with a performance of “Biblical,” beat out Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Vaccines, The Maccabees and The Cribs for the prestigious honor in the reader-voted competition.

"We're not even English, we're better than all the other English bands," Simon Neil joked afterward. "To be fair, we're not better than some other Scottish bands, it's a tough crowd up there!"

"There's so many good guitar bands out there in the U.K. doing different types of shit, and it shows what rude health we're in,” he continued. “The media spotlight will move away every now and then, but guitar music is essential and it will always be there."

Neil and his bandmates couldn’t have been to broken up about losing out in the Best Live Band competition to their elders The Rolling Stones. The old-timers also won Best Music Film for Crossfire Hurricane. Said Ronnie Wood, the only Stone who attended, "I feel really grateful after all the hard work that we put in—it's got to be fucking live, baby! We've only waited 50 years for it."

Afterward, a Stones spokesman issued the following statement: "All the accolades this band have thrown at them over the years stem from one thing: on that stage they continue to be quite magnificent—the ultimate bar band, who deliver every time. They're well chuffed to be honored with these awards as they come from real music fans, not a committee."

Florence Welch
was the only other double winner, picking up the awards for Best Solo Artist and Best Dancefloor Anthem for “Sweet Nothing,” on which she joined Calvin Harris.

Not surprisingly, given the hipster context, voters reserved their snarkiness for One Direction—but Harry Styles had to be laughing his skinny arse off that they elevated him to Barack Obama’s stature in the Hero/Villain pairing.

Johnny Marr picked up the award for Godlike Genius and closed the show with a live performance featuring Ronnie Wood and The Vaccines' Justin Young.

Said NME Editor Mike Williams, "The BRITS have their place, but we like to think of our awards as the best rock & roll party of the year, and age is no barrier. Johnny Marr has had a fantastic career, and the Stones still appear to be completely relevant to our audience."

2013 NME Awards winners:
Godlike Genius: Johnny Marr
Teenage Cancer Trust Outstanding Contribution Award: The Cribs
Best British Band: Biffy Clyro
Best Album: Given to the Wild, The Maccabees
Best International Band: The Killers
Best Track” “Inhaler,” Foals
Best TV Show: Fresh Meat
Best Music Film: Crossfire Hurricane, The Rolling Stones
Best Reissue: 21, Blur
Best Solo Artist: Florence Welch
Best New Band: Palma Violets
Best Music Video: “R U Mine?” Arctic Monkeys
Best Festival: Reading and Leeds
Best Live Band: The Rolling Stones
Best Dancefloor Anthem: “Sweet Nothing,” Calvin Harris f/Florence Welch
Philip Hall Radar Award: Child of Lov
Best Twitter: Alana Haim, Haim
Best Book: The Story of the Streets, Mike Skinner
Music Moment of the Year: Olympics Opening Ceremony
Hero of the Year: Barack Obama
Villain of the Year: Harry Styles
Best Small Festival: Festival No 6
Worst Band: One Direction
Best Fan Community: Muse
Best Film: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

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