The shortlist for the Nationwide Mercury Prize has been announced, via Billboard. The prize awards the best album from a British or Irish artist release in the previous year. Last year's top gun was electro-pop troupe Klaxons for Myths of the Near Future.

The obvious choices will stir some healthy debate, I'm talking about Radiohead vs. Burial. Both artists made completely different sounding records, but how does one judge which disc is 'better?' And British Sea Power's latest album is no slouch either.

Stronger debate may circle around the omission of Portishead (duh!) and M.I.A. (bang!) while Adele and Rachel Unthank and the Winterset somehow made the list. Ouch.

Behold:

Adele: 19
British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial: Untrue
Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle: Shine
The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understatement
Laura Marling: Alas I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon: Stainless Style
Portico Quartet: Knee-Deep in the North Sea
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand
Radiohead: In Rainbows
Rachel Unthank and the Winterset: The Bairns