At a time when the ARIA awards mean very little unless you belong to the Cilmi family, The Australian Music Prize (AMP) is a breath of fresh air. Heading into its fourth year the AMP, which sees its winner walk away with a cool thirty thousand dollars, seeks to recognize “creative excellence” in music.

This year’s nine nominees were announced at the St Kilda Festival in Melbourne on the weekend – quite a fitting location given that much of this year’s talent hails from M-town. The nominees for 2008 include previous winners, The Drones for their most recent musical offering Havilah and Melbourne darlings Beaches for their phenomenal self-titled debut.

The Australian Music Prise Nominees for 2008::

Apocalypso – The Presets
Beaches – Beaches
Havilah – The Drones
In Ghost Colours – Cut Copy
Jungle Blues – CW Stoneking
Love Is Gone – Jack Ladder
Presque Vu – Tom Cooney
Primary Colours – Eddy Current Suppression Ring
Sympathy For the New World – Ross McLennan

The winner will be announced on March 13th.