Nationwide Music Prize

So the 2006 Nationwide Music Prize (Mercury Music Prize sounded better) shortlist has been announced and is largely unsurprising. It has its usual solitary urban act in Sway and usual relatively unknown artist in Zoe Rahman, who won the Perrier Young Jazz Musician award or something similar.

Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I Am Not'
Editors - 'The Back Room'
Guillemots - 'Through The Windowpane'
Hot Chip - 'The Warning'
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - 'Ballad Of The Broken Seas'
Lou Rhodes - 'Beloved One'
Muse - 'Black Holes & Revelations'
Richard Hawley - 'Coles Corner'
Scritti Politti - 'White Bread Black Beer'
Sway - 'This Is My Demo'
Thom Yorke - 'The Eraser'
Zoe Rahman - 'Melting Pot'

The winner will be announced on September 5th. Who do you reckon it'll be? For some reason I'm sensing an Arctic Monkeys victory.

p.s the Nationwide Music Prize long list is here.