Radiohead, The Last Shadow Puppets and Adele will battle it out for this year’s Nationwide Mercury Prize.
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A shortlist of 12 albums were selected today (22.07.08) with over 240 UK albums being considered on their musical merits.
Both Adele’s 19 and The Age Of The Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets – Arctic Monkeys star Alex Turner’s side project – are debut efforts.
Radiohead’s In Rainbows broke new ground when it was released on a pay-what-it’s-worth basis.
Other nominees include Shine by Estelle who relaunched her career in America after being dropped by her British record label and folk quartet Rachel Unthank and The Winterset’s album The Bairns, which was nominated for a BBC Folk award earlier this year.
Newcomer Laura Marling – whose nominated LP Alas I Cannot Swim reached number 45 in the UK album chart on release in February – is also in contention.
Simon Frith, Chair of Judges, praised the quality of this year’s entries, saying:
“This turns out to be a remarkably rich year for British music.
“What is most striking is the continued resilience and flexibility of the album as a way of organising music-making. It remains an unrivalled source of musical invention and imagination, a way of linking songs, exploring themes and developing sounds that is endlessly thrilling, surprising and worth celebration.”
The winning album will be announced live by Jools Holland on BBC Two on September 9. The Nationwide Mercury Prize is open to British artists from all music genres and does not take into account sales or live performances.
Nationwide Mercury Prize 2008 nominees:
Adele – 19
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial – Untrue
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle – Shine
Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon – Stainless Style
Portico Quartet – Knee-Deep In The North Sea
Rachel Unthank and The Winterset – The Bairns
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand
The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement
