NME is sponsoring the first-ever NME Awards USA. I just tried going over to their website to read about the nominees, and when voting ends, but apparently you need to be a registered user to see the information. And that's completely lame. So I won't be voting.

If you don't have the same online editorial hangups as I do and would like to cast your ballot, here are some of the nominees. You can see the full listing over at LimeWire.

Best Band
Kings of Leon
The Killers
My Chemical Romance
The White Stripes
Foo Fighters

Best International Band
Arctic Monkeys
Arcade Fire
Muse
Radiohead
Oasis

Best New Band
Band of Horses
Black Kids
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
Paramore

Best New International Band
The Enemy
Foals
The Wombats
The Last Shadow Puppets
Klaxons

Best Live Band
My Chemical Romance
Kings of Leon
The Killers
Queens of the Stoneage
Foo Fighters

Best International Live Act
Arctic Monkeys
Arcade Fire
The Cribs
Kaiser Chiefs
Muse

What do you think? I like how they only have American bands in the "best" area and categorize everyone else as international, instead of allowing Americans to pick a non-US band as the best. And by "like" I mean, don't like. And… Oasis?? C'mon now people. Try to stay with the current century please.

As one of the commentors on Limewire said, "I think they're doing this to demonstrate that Americans have poor taste."

The awards will be broadcast live on NME's MySpace page on April 23rd.