The Set List

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.

More Tom Jones: Aping the Monkeys

Tom Jones has already recorded three songs for his first album for S-Curve, including one penned by U2's Bono and featuring guitar work by the Edge.
Jones is working with the same team that helped shape Joss Stone's albums, specifically Betty Wright and Mike Mangini.
S-Curve owner Steve Greenberg said they intend to drive home the idea that Tom Jones is one of the world's great soul singers. "This pushes him in several different directions. In 1965, he was a raw R&B singer that might have emerged as England's answer to Otis Redding. Of course his career went in a different direction, but we're placing him back at that crossroads."
One of the first tracks recorded is a cover of the Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor." Rather than emulate the Monkeys' recording, for Jones' version they used Eddie Floyd's "Big Bird" as a rhythmic base; Jones unveiled his version at the recent Concert for Diana.
Greenberg said the album is not limited to deep soul ballads and will not be a Motown tribute or a duets disc. "It will be a creative adult album." There is no release date penciled in.