Mercury Prize 2012: no standout albums this year, says judge There was no equivalent of an Adele record [21 was nominated last year] or the Arctic Monkeys record [Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not won the prize in 2006]. He praised this year's list as an exciting selection, but conceded: "Whether there's a record that you think is going to change the way people make music - probably not, and that goes back to there being no standout record." Frith admitted he had never heard of some of the acts until his fellow judges suggested them for the list. "What Mercury has always tried to do is act as some sort of guide and say, this is at least worth a listen," he said. I'm excited by this year's line-up. If people go out and listen to some of these things, they'll hear some really interesting music. It's a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest - even if people work out the formula by which we're supposed to operate, that wouldn't produce the list that emerges. Its unexpectedness makes it exciting. Frith likened the eclectic nature of the Mercury Prize to Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony. I felt the opening ceremony was like a Mercury list - eclectic things that people don't think should work together, but it did work. The closing ceremony was more like a Brits list - commercially successful acts, a perfectly good show but somehow the opening ceremony was much more unexpected. Asked if there was still a place for the Mercury Prize in a world of declining album sales, Frith said: "We're in a paradoxical situation where the album is still an art form musicians want to make, but it's not the art form people necessarily want to listen to because of downloads and everything else. If you'd asked me five years ago, I'd have said this prize can't possibly last. The album is obviously a declining art form and we're an album prize. But every year we have more and more albums entered, so there are people out there who still want to make albums. We're part of that world, and it works. It's as if the album is going to last forever regardless of what people do with it. Frith said he was surprised that only two women feature on this year's list. But he said: "I think it partly reflects the fact that, even now, the world of art rock is still very much a male world." The winner of the Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be announced on November 1. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave Ben Howard - Every Kingdom Django Django - Django Django Field Music - Plumb Jessie Ware - Devotion Lianne La Havas - Is Your Love Big Enough? Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again Plan B - Ill Manors Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge Roller Trio - Roller Trio Sam Lee - Ground Of Its Own The Maccabees - Given To The Wild