Dean Blunt wins NME award, sends some guy to collect it

The NME Awards took place at Brixton Academy in London last night, which saw many of the music magazine's darlings – Royal Blood, Suede, etc. – take home the coveted middle finger statuette.

One surprising winner, however, was Dean Blunt, who picked up the prize for best up-and-coming artist. The Philip Hall Radar Award is given to one new act every year, as chosen by the NME's editors.

Presenting the award was Jarvis Cocker – who has played Blunt's songs on his BBC Radio 6 Music show, and been spotted at his shows – who recalled hearing Blunt's music for the first time: "I'd like to ask you, what does NME stand for? Needy middle-aged ego? Nice most elephant? No, it actually stands for New Musical Express. You don't want the same old, same old, do you? We need people pushing the envelope. I first became aware of this person doing my radio show on 6 Music. It didn't sound like anything I'd ever heard of before. It makes me very proud to award the Philip Hall Radar Award to Dean Blunt."

Naturally, Blunt didn't collect the award himself, but he did send an analogue to collect it, pictured below. "Thanks to the man upstairs, thanks NME," he said, "I finally made it!"

According to the NME, Dean Blunt was not in the building for the ceremony.

[via NME]