I ♥ the
Cool List. I don't ♥ that Peter Gabriel is 'cooler' than Karen O. Puh-lease.
50. Jon McClure, Reverend & The Makers
[new entry]
In an age of apolitical hedonists, The Rev is a beacon of conscience and political engagement. You might not always agree with what he says, but in the current apocalyptic climate, rock needs outspoken firebrands like McClure more than ever.
49. Carl Barat
[re-entry]
2008 was a rough year for the man Pete Doherty used to call Biggles, with serious illness and poor album sales conspiring to spell the end for Dirty Pretty Things. Yet Carlos retains an indelible aura of cool and his recent announcement that The Libertines have "unfinished business" bodes well for 2009.
48. Lethal Bizzle
[last year: 5]
He's slipped down the rankings since 2007, when he made Number Five on the back of his Gallows collaboration. Even so, any man who can face down a knuckle-headed Download festival bottling without losing his cool – as Bizzle did in June 2008 – deserves respect.
47. Eva Spence, Rolo Tomassi
[new entry]
Sheffield hardcore bruisers Rolo Tomassi wouldn't be half as thrilling without the razor-raw vocals of Spence, whose guttural banshee screams belie her demure appearance.
46. Matt Bellamy, Muse
[last year: 27]
Whether he's holding Wembley Stadium in thrall or discussing intergalactic conspiracy theories, Bellamy's greatest gift is his childlike impulsiveness. This is a man who once strapped a praying mantis to a rocket and sent it hurtling skyward, for a laugh.
45. Brian Fallon, The Gaslight Anthem
[new entry]
Like fellow New Jersey-resident Bruce Springsteen, Fallon brings a heartfelt everyman quality to his band's galloping punk rock. Fallon's clear-eyed lyrics made The Gaslight Anthem's second album, 'The 59 Sound', one of 2008's most welcome surprises.
44. Gruff Rhys, Neon Neon
[new entry]
Twelve years on from Super Furry Animals' debut album, and a year after calling time on his solo project due to "musical indifference", Gruff Rhys staged 2008's most unlikely comeback, notching up a Mercury nomination for the debut Neon Neon album, 'Stainless Style', his collaboration with producer Boom Bip.
43. Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
[last year: 28]
An avatar of cool, Karen O has made the Top 50 almost every year since the list was first compiled in 2002. It doesn't even matter that 2008 saw no Yeah Yeah Yeahs release, since her side project Native Korean Rock was impressive in itself, proving she could do minimalist alt-folk as well as caterwauling garage-rock:
42. Tom Vain – S.C.U.M.
[new entry]
Keyboardist Sam Kilcoyne might get the attention thanks to his involvement in the Underage Festival, but it's rail-thin frontman Vain who imbues this black-hearted mob with all their gothic portent.
41. Shunda K, Yo Majesty
[new entry]
One half of Florida's most potty-mouthed lesbian hip-hop duo, Shunda K is typical of the hard-partying, needle-in-the-red spirit that re-energised hip-hop in 2008.
40. Robert Plant
[new entry]
After the O2 reunion gig he could have toured the world with Led Zeppelin and banked millions. Instead he returned to his rootsy collaboration with Alison Krauss, preferring to move forward rather than wallow in past glories. And he still has hair like Aslan. Respect.
39. Robbie Furze, The Big Pink
[new entry]
Former Alec Empire guitarist Furze is one half of nihilistic drone-kings The Big Pink. The other half is Merok label boss Milo Cordell. You can download a free Big Pink track from the Radar blog, and check out their track 'Too Young To Love' below:
38. Jason Pierce, Spiritualized
[new entry]
After nearly dying from double pneumonia in 2007, this year Jason Pierce capped a remarkable comeback with the mesmeric 'Songs In A&E'. The Spiritualized veteran would have ranked even higher had he realised his ambition of playing a gig inside the Large Hadron Collider…
37. Brandon Flowers, The Killers
[last year: 44]
Sadly no placing for Brandon's moustache this year, which debuted at 18 in 2007. But there will always be room for Flowers in the NME Cool List, regardless of whether he ever gets to the bottom of that human/dancer conundrum:
36. Frank Carter, Gallows
[last year: 1]
"People think Kurt Cobain's cool, but he's dead, so how cool is he really?" So said Carter upon topping the 2007 Cool List, revealing a shaky grasp of rock n roll mythology. This year Carter stays in the list by dint of still being in the band, no matter how reluctantly, in spite of endless threats to become a full-time tattooist.
35. Little Boots
[new entry]
Rising starlet and NME blogger, Little Boots - aka 25-year-old Victoria Hesketh - helped shape a vintage year for electro; but you sense her best is yet to come.
34. DJ Mujava
[new entry]
'Township Funk' electrified hipster dancefloors across the country in 2008, while the rumours concerning the South African artist's fragile mental health only added to the intrigue.
33. Josh Homme, Queens Of The Stone Age
[last year: 41]
The desert-rock James Dean possesses a classic charisma that ensures he'll always be a Cool List contender. And news that he's working with Arctic Monkeys just makes us love him more.
32. Lovefoxxx, CSS
[last year: 3]
We were told CSS had "grown up" with second album 'Donkey'. Thankfully that didn't stop Lovefoxxx from dressing up in a silver dragon outfit (see below) and generally turning every UK festival into a riot of kaleidoscopic drunken joy. Again.
31. Rivers Cuomo, Weezer
[new entry]
2008 was the year he stopped acting batshit barmy and concentrated on writing amazing tunes again. 'Pork And Beans' boasted his best chorus in years (not to mention the best Weezer video since 'Buddy Holly'):
30. Will Roan, Amazing Baby
[new entry]
If MGMT ditched the neat synth hooks and indulged their prog-stoner instincts to the max, they'd sound like fellow Wesleyan Uni graduates Amazing Baby, whose frontman Will Roan is a tousle-haired VanWyngarden-in-waiting.
29. Scarlett Johansson
[new entry]
An album of Tom Waits covers, produced by Dave Sitek and featuring Nick Zinner: Johansson's debut album was so breathtakingly hip it made Alice Glass look like Harriet Harman. Whether anyone is still listening to it six months down the line is another matter.
28. Miles Kane, The Rascals/The Last Shadow Puppets
[new entry]
Would he have made the list on the strength of The Rascals? Unlikely. But Alex Turner coaxed a songwriting panache from Kane that had hitherto lain dormant. Meanwhile, few rocked a shirt-and-tie with as much flair as the Wirral lad did in 2008.
27. Yannis Philippakis, Foals
[last year: 45]
Not even getting arrested in the wake of an ugly fracas with John Lydon in July 2008 could slow the steady ascent of post-punk's hippest Oxford dropout.
26. Nick McCabe, The Verve
[new entry]
Take away guitarist McCabe and what have you got? Another Richard Ashcroft solo album. And no-one wants that.
25. Peter Gabriel
[new entry]
Yes, really. Chuffed at being name-checked in Vampire Weekend's 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa', the ex-Genesis man responded by teaming up with Hot Chip to cover the song. If only all prog dinosaurs were this clued up.
24. Zack de la Rocha, Rage Against The Machine
[new entry]
You probably wouldn't want to go for a pint with him, but RATM's comeback festival appearances reminded the world that de la Rocha is the master of vein-popping, moshpit-slaying iconoclasm.
23. Jamie Reynolds, Klaxons
[last year: 2]
OK, so he didn't really do much in 2008, but the uber-hedonist's wild-eyed determination to have a good time all the time stands as a lesson for us all in these joyless, gloomy times.
22. Jay Reatard
[new entry]
He's been making music for 10 years but it's only been in the last year, since signing to Matador, that the wider world has been turned on to this Memphis berserker's jittery garage-pop.
21. Damon Albarn
[re-entry]
It's been a good year for Albarn - only in 2008 has Albarn's abundant creativity found its most mature expression. Monkey opera is his business, and business is good.
20. Dev Hynes, Lightspeed Champion
[last year: 45]
The alt-folk troubadour scraped into the Top 50 last year, but that was before we heard 'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge', a debut album whose sun-dappled loveliness ensures an impressive jump of 25 places.
19. Florence Welch, Florence & The Machine
[new entry]
Combining megawatt charisma with a pin-you-to-the-wall vocal ferocity, Florence inspires devotion through sheer force of personality. Only a lunatic would bet against her making it big in 2009.
18. Ed MacFarlane, Friendly Fires
[new entry]
'Paris'' beatific chorus - "Every night we'll watch the stars/They'll be out for us" – demonstrates MacFarlane's ability to underpin his band's juggernaut beats with a kernel of big-hearted humanity.
17. Santogold
[last year: 48]
She used to be an R'n'B A&R, before quitting in protest at the way P Diddy was dominating the scene. Clearly, Santi White is someone whose instincts you can trust.
16. Ezra Koenig, Vampire Weekend
Over-educated and proud of it, Koenig has built up his own distinct lyrical world of collegiate eccentrics and Oxford commas. Not since Lynne Truss has grammatical propriety gained such a broad mainstream audience.
15. Johnny Marr
[new entry]
Tedious reactionaries scoffed at his decision to join The Cribs, but Marr proves that, in an era of endless big name reunions, the coolest thing an "elder statesman" can do is to move with the times, not trade on past achievements.
14. Dave Sitek, TV On The Radio
[re-entry]
Whether producing Foals and Scarlett Johansson or propelling his own band down ever more visionary vistas, Sitek's forward-thinking philosophy is crystallised by his own mantra: "Why mess around when you can fuck around?"
13. Lil Wayne
[new entry]
Forget the backstory – the cough syrup addiction, the fact he shot himself in the chest at 16 – and revel in the sheer, otherwordly strangeness of Lil Wayne's music. 'Tha Carter III' has sold 2.5 million copies. How did that happen?
12. Guy Garvey, Elbow
Elbow's Mercury Prize victory – ensuring 'overnight' success after 18 years – focused deserved attention on Garvey's qualities as a lyricist. Now he'll be singing 'Newborn' at Wembley Arena. Who saw that coming?
11. Pink Eyes, Fucked Up
[new entry]
The spirit of punk writ large, the swivel-eyed anarchy of Pink Eyes' onstage antics is doubly impressive when you consider that he also holds down a job in the film industry – though amazingly no-one he meets at work knows about his double life.
10. Caroline McKay, Glasvegas
[new entry]
She'd never played drums before she joined the band; frontman James Allan just recruited her on the grounds that she "looked like someone from a movie". Proof that some people are just born cool.
9. Liam Gallagher, Oasis
[re-entry]
The less Liam mouths off, the cooler he becomes. As Noel's rants increasingly enter grumpy old man territory, Liam is entering middle age with something approaching dignity.
8. M.I.A.
[last year: 11]
Just when you thought M.I.A. was destined to generate more style mag features than record sales, along came 'Paper Planes', an inter-continental radio smash that made M.I.A. properly famous as well as untouchably hip.
7. Caleb Followill, Kings Of Leon
[last year: 21]
Beyond the carnal exhilaration of 'Sex On Fire', 'Only By The Night' was a surprisingly nuanced album lyrically, with Followill wrestling with desire, self-disgust and, on 'Cold Desert', overpowering religious guilt. A man of intriguing hidden depths.
6. Ladyhawke
[new entry]
Live she's so shy she can barely look at the audience, yet Pip Brown's limitations as a performer are an intrinsic part of her appeal, creating an enthralling disjunction between the euphoria of the music and the punishing self-doubt of its creator.
5. Sam Dust, Late Of The Pier
[new entry]
It takes a true maverick to grow up in Castle Donington and become, not a denim-clad rocker or downcast screamo fan, but rather a purveyor of hyper-energetic, splatter-gun electro. In Dust we trust.
4. Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys/The Last Shadow Puppets
[last year: 6]
Despite the best efforts of girlfriend Alexa Chung, Turner is still cool, with The Last Shadow Puppets proving he can play the role of the debonair Scott Walker-type as well as that of the caustic kitchen-sink poet.
3. Andrew VanWyngarden, MGMT
[new entry]
2008 saw the words "shamanic" and "cosmic" bandied around more recklessly than at any time since 1973, and it was primarily down to MGMT's bandana-clad frontman, the blissed-out figurehead for a new generation of inner-vision voyagers.
2. Jay-Z
[re-entry]
"For those that didn't get the memo, my name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty fucking awesome." With these words the rapper introduced his Glastonbury headline set, surely one of the most talked-about live performances of all time, and created an unforgettable moment of grandstanding hip-hop theatre in the process.
1. Alice Glass, Crystal Castles
[new entry]
Whether forcing Glastonbury organisers to pull the plug on her crazed onstage antics or eliciting gasps with tales of her nihilistic, rootless upbringing ("bonfires and fights and endless pills"), Glass was a black hole at the centre of 2008, utterly magnetic yet thrillingly inscrutable. Is she remotely bothered about topping the Cool List? What do you think?
Hello Alice, how do you feel about being named the coolest person on planet Earth in 2008?
"I'm flattered, but back in school the people who held themselves in the same regard were the biggest waste of skin I've ever met".
Why do you think you got so many votes?
"My pact with Satan hasn't expired yet."
What's the coolest thing you own?
"Slaves."
Who is your cool icon?
"We need new idioms, we need to stop talking like beatniks."
Does cool even matter?
"Nothing matters. We're all dust."
