By: Spacelab Research Staff

The 2008 Plug Awards happened in New York on Thursday night, giving awards to some of the best names in independent music for the work they did in 2007. Highlight from the show include Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year, Liars winning Avant Album Of The Year,and Animal Collective winning Indie Rock Album of the Year.

There were live performances by Nick Cave (who won ), St. Vincent, Dizzee Rascal, José González, The Forms, DiVinci, and guest DJ Sally Shapiro. The award show was hosted by Patton Oswald.

If you missed it, you can always catch the webcast highlights, courtesy of the Dell Lounge.

The Plug Awards seeks to create an awards show that escapes all of the evils of other awards shows that focus on sales, media saturation, etc (i.e. buying influence) to reward novel concepts like artistic integrity and quality music.

2008 Plug Awards Winners
Album Of The Year
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge)

New Artist Of The Year
Justice

Female Artist Of The Year
Annie Clark (St. Vincent)

Male Artist Of The Year
Andrew Bird

Indie Rock Album Of The Year
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)

Americana Album Of The Year
Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)

Metal Album Of The Year
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works (Relapse)

Hip-Hop Album Of The Year
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (Definitive Jux)

Punk Album Of The Year
Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! (Side One Dummy)

Electronic/Dance Album Of The Year
Justice - † (Ed Banger/Vice)

DJ Album Of The Year
Hot Chip - DJ-Kicks (!K7)

Avant Album Of The Year
Liars - Liars (Mute)

Artist Of The Year
Radiohead

Song Of The Year
The National - "Fake Empire" - Boxer (Beggars Banquet)

Live Act Of The Year
Arcade Fire

Music Video Of The Year
Battles - "Atlas" (Warp)

Album Art/Packaging Of The Year
Menomena - Friend And Foe (Barsuk)

Label Of The Year
Merge

Live Music Venue Of The Year
Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY)

Music Festival Of The Year
Coachella Valley Music Festival

Music Website Of The Year
Pitchfork Media

Music Blog Of The Year
Stereogum

Magazine Of The Year
Paste

Online Radio Station Of The Year
KCRW

Record Store Of The Year
Other Music (New York, NY)

Zine Of The Year
Wax Poetics

Online Record Store Of The Year
iTunes

College/Non-Comm Radio Station Of The Year
KEXP (Seattle, WA)

Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)
Sirius: Left Of Center - Blog Radio (New York, NY)