NME Albums and Tracks of the Year, 2008

The NME Album of the Year and Single Of The Year were announced on 11 December 2008. It was the 37th countdown of the most popular albums and tracks of the year, as chosen by music reviewers and independent journalists who work for the magazine and for NME.com.

Albums

Note: UK artists

  • Bold: Album contains Song of the Year

#

Album

Artist

Country of origin

1

Oracular Spectacular

MGMT

'''

2

Dear Science

TV on the Radio

3

Glasvegas

Glasvegas

4

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend

5

Antidotes

Foals

6

Nights Out

Metronomy

7

Santogold

Santogold

8

Twenty One

Mystery Jets

9

Only by the Night

Kings of Leon

10

Friendly Fires

Friendly Fires

11

Stainless Style

Neon Neon

/

12

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles

13

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes

14

Alas, I Cannot Swim

Laura Marling

15

The Age of the Understatement

The Last Shadow Puppets

16

Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke

17

The Seldom Seen Kid

Elbow

18

Fantasy Black Channel

Late of the Pier

19

The Chemistry of Common Life

[...] Up

20

Songs in A&E

Spiritualized

21

Falling Off the Lavender Bridge

LightSpeed Champion

22

Dig Out Your Soul

Oasis

23

Anywhere I Lay My Head

Scarlett Johansson

24

For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver

25

Third

Portishead

26

Forth

The Verve

27

Hercules and Love Affair

Hercules and Love Affair

28

Do You Like Rock Music?

British Sea Power

29

''[[Dig, Lazarus, Dig

!]]''

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

30

Made in the Dark

Hot Chip

31

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Coldplay

32

The Hawk is Howling

Mogwai

33

Microcastle

Deerhunter

34

We Are Beautiful, We Are DoomEd

Los Campesinos!

35

Dropping the Writ

Cass McCombs

36

The Midnight Organ Fight

Frightened Rabbit

37

Beautiful Future

Primal Scream

38

Modern Guilt

Beck

39

Does You Inspire You

Chairlift

40

Midnight Boom

The Kills

/

41

Beat Pyramid

These New Puritans

42

Alpinisms

School of Seven BElls

43

Partie Traumatic

Black Kids

44

Youth Novels

Lykke Li

45

Attack & Release

The Black Keys

46

Box of Secrets

Blood Red Shoes

47

The '59 Sound

The Gaslight Anthem

48

Fortress Round My Heart

Ida Maria

49

Intimacy

Bloc Party

50

Lies

Heartbreak

Countries represented

  • = 26

  • = 19

  • = 2

  • = 1

  • = 1

  • = 1

  • = 1

  • = 1

Singles

Note: UK artists

#

Track

Artist

Country of origin

1

"Kids"

MGMT

2

"Geraldine"

Glasvegas

3

"Two Doors Down"

Mystery Jets

4

"Time to Pretend"

MGMT

5

"Electric Feel"

MGMT

6

"Heartbreaker"

Metronomy

7

"Paris"

Friendly Fires

8

"Paper Planes"

M.I.A.

9

"[...] on Fire"

Kings of Leon

10

"A-Punk"

Vampire Weekend

11

"Love Is Noise"

The Verve

12

"Ready for the Floor"

Hot Chip

13

"One Day like This"

Elbow

14

"Kiss with a Fist"

Florence and the Machine

15

"Paris Is Burning"

Ladyhawke

16

"The Shock of the Lightning"

Oasis

17

"Soul on Fire"

Spiritualized

18

"Blind"

Hercules and Love Affair

19

"I'm Outta Time"

Oasis

20

"Bruises"

Chairlift

21

"Golden Age"

TV on the Radio

22

"Standing Next to Me"

The Last Shadow Puppets

23

"Year of the Pig"

[...] Up

24

"L.E.S. Artistes"

Santogold

25

"Young Love"

Mystery Jets featuring Laura Marling

26

"Headdress"

Amazing Baby

27

"The Age of the Understatement"

The Last Shadow Puppets

28

"Grounds for Divorce"

Elbow

29

"Township Funk"

DJ Mujava

30

"Dog Days Are Over"

Florence and the Machine

31

"Ghosts"

Laura Marling

32

"I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"

Black Kids

33

"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Vampire Weekend

34

"Space and the Woods"

Late of the Pier

35

"Back of the Van"

Ladyhawke

36

"Stuck on Repeat"

Little Boots

37

"Wearing My Rolex"

Wiley

38

"Black and Gold"

Sam Sparro

39

"Oxford Comma"

Vampire Weekend

40

"We're Back"

Heartbreak

41

"Dance wiv Me"

Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris & Chrome

42

"Focker"

Late of the Pier

43

"It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry"

Glasvegas

44

"Courtship Dating"

Crystal Castles

45

"Crimewave"

Crystal Castles vs. Health

/

46

"Batcat"

Mogwai

47

"Machine Gun"

Portishead

48

"[[Dig, Lazarus, Dig

! (song)|Dig, Lazarus, Dig

!]]"

49

"Flowers & Football Tops"

Glasvegas

50

"Oh My God"

Ida Maria

Artists with multiple entries

3 Entries

  • MGMT (1, 4, 5)
  • Vampire Weekend (10, 33, 39)
  • Glasvegas (2, 43, 49)

2 Entries

  • Mystery Jets (3, 25)
  • The Last Shadow Puppets (22, 27)
  • Elbow (13, 28)
  • Florence and the Machine (14, 30)
  • Ladyhawke (15, 35)
  • Late of the Pier (34, 42)
  • Laura Marling (25, 31)
  • Crystal Castles (44, 45)

Countries represented

  • = 27

  • = 14

  • = 3

  • = 2

  • = 2

  • = 1

  • = 1

  • = 1