The nominees for the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize have been announced for 2006.
While often including the most exciting new band's debut (since we know how much the UK music industry loves novelty), the Mercury Music Prize is actually just an annual 'Best Album' award for the UK and Ireland.The twelve nominees for 2006 are: Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not', Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - 'Ballad Of The Broken Seas', Editors - 'The Back Room', Guillemots - 'Through the Windowpane', Richard Hawley - 'Coles Corner', Hot Chip - 'The Warning', Muse - 'Black Holes and Revelations', Zoe Rahman - 'Melting Pot', Lou Rhodes - 'Beloved One', Scritti Politti - 'White Bread Black Beer', Sway - 'This Is My Demo' and Thom Yorke - 'The Eraser'.
Many would automatically say Arctic Monkeys are a shoo-in, but the Mercury Prize, chosen by a select group of industry insiders, often picks obscure bands to expose to a wider audience. Despite hyped albums from Bloc Party, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, The Go! Team and The Magic Numbers last year, the judges picked the mostly unknown Antony & The Johnsons.
Prepare for two months of speculation. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in September.
