Mercury Prize Contenders: Amy, Arctic and the Unfamiliar

Former Mercury Prize winners Arctic Monkeys and Dizzee Rascal have made a return to the Mercury Prize Shortlist, a collection of a dozen albums competing to be named the U.K.'s best.
Along with recent discs from those two acts, Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" is considered a front-runner for the prize. Rascal was nominated for "Maths + English"; Arctic Monkeys are up for "Favourite Worst Nightmare."
The list is largely bands that have yet to make any sort of mark in the U.S. Nominees are Bat for Lashes' "Fur and Gold" ; Fionn Regan's "The End of History" ; New Young Pony Club's "Fantastic Playroom" ; Klaxons' "Myths of the Near Future" ; the Young Knives' "Voices of Animals and Men"; Maps' "We Can Create"; the View's "Hats Off to the Buskers" ; Jamie T's "Panic Prevention"; and Basquiat Strings' "Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford."
The winner will be announced Sept. 4.
Now in its 15th year, the Mercury Prize has become a significant prize for U.K. acts, helping boost sales at home and abroad.