´óÏó´«Ã½

Bangor-born pianist Gwilym Simcock is one of 12 artists shortlisted for the 2011 Mercury Prize.

Simcock's album Good Days At Schloss Elmau is nominated alongside releases from Adele, Elbow, PJ Harvey and Tinie Tempah. Here's the full list:

• Adele - 21
• Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
• Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
• Everything Everything - Man Alive
• Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
• Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau
• James Blake - James Blake
• Katy B - On A Mission
• King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
• Metronomy - The English Riviera
• PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
• Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

Another Welsh connection on this year's shortlist comes with Everything Everything's Man Alive, which was engineered by north Wales-based producer and sometime solo performer David Wrench.

Last September, when The xx won the 2010 award, my colleague James McLaren wrote a piece on the Welsh and the Mercury Prize. He found a total of four nominations since 1992: Manic Street Preachers' Everything Must Go in 1996 and This Is My Truth in 1999; Super Furry Animals' Rings Around The World in 2001; and Scritti Politti's White Bread Black Beer in 2006.

The Mercury judges have traditionally proved indifferent towards the jazz and classical nominees, leading to accusations of tokenism in the shortlist selections. This year's winner will be announced on 6 September, and we'll wait and see whether Gwilym Simcock fares any better. We wish him well.