The Mercury Prize is an annual award for the “best British album,” and unlike the Teen Choice Awards where surfboards are given as trophies, winning it is actually a pretty big deal. So is the fact that £20,000 is given to the winner. Today, nominations for the 2009 Mercury Prize were announced and among the candidates are Bat for Lashes, Florence and the Machine, Friendly Fires, Glasvegas and Kasabian. Read all about it at mercuryprize.com.

TAGGED AS: Bat for Lashes, Florence and The Machine, Friendly Fires, Glasvegas, Kasabian, La Roux, Led Bib, Lisa Hannigan, Mercury Prize, Speech Debelle, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, The Horrors, The Invisible