Arctic Monkeys, the little band that came out of nowhere to conquer the U.K. (and small parts of America) has won the 2006 Mercury Music Prize. The Mercury Prize is chosen by a panel of 12 judges from a long list submitted by record labels. Monkeys frontman Alex Turner is quoted in Billboard as saying, "We won because we had the best record." Someone's been attending the Gallagher brothers' charm school.
The band's debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not beat out 11 other nominees, namely:
Editors, The Back Room
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan , Ballad Of The Broken Seas
Guillemots, Through The Windowpane
Richard Hawley, Coles Corner
Hot Chip, The Warning
Muse, Black Holes & Revelations
Zoe Rahman, Melting Pot
Lou Rhodes, Beloved One
Scritti Politti, White Bread Black Beer
Sway, This Is My Demo
Thom Yorke, The Eraser