Mercury prize pits Radiohead vs. Robert Plant

LONDON (Reuters) - Radiohead's "In Rainbows" is up against 11 other albums, including "Raising Sand" by Alison Krauss and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, in the competition for this year's Nationwide Mercury Prize.

Also on the short list for album of the year is "The Age of the Understatement" by the Last Shadow Puppets, featuring Miles Kane of the Rascals and Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.

Chairman of the judges Simon Frith said: "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 organizing music-making," he said. "It remains an unrivalled source of musical invention and imagination, a way of linking songs, exploring themes and developing sounds."

The 12 CDs under consideration for album of the year were selected by an independent panel from more than 240 entries by British recording artists.

Previous winners of the award include the Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, Antony and the Johnsons and Franz Ferdinand.

This year's Nationwide Mercury Prize winners announcement will be broadcast live on BBC2 on September 9.

The full short list for album of the year is as follows:

- Elbow ("The Seldom Seen Kid")