Remember back in December when we reported that there was an unprecedented 61 albums on the 12th Australian Music Prize longlist? Well, the 16 tireless brains on the judging panel have grated the bill down to just nine exceptional releases.

Here they are, in alphabetical order:

A.B. Original, Reclaim Australia

The Avalanches, Wildflower

Big Scary, Animal

Camp Cope, Camp Cope

D.D Dumbo, Utopia Defeated

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Nonagon Infinity

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree

Olympia, Self Talk

The Peep Tempel, Joy

The AMP winner will be announced on March 8 at the annual ‘Amped Up in Conversation’ event, where longstanding Principal Partner PPCA will present the winner with $30,000 in prize money. Previous winners have included Courtney Barnett (2015), REMI (2014), Big Scary (2013), Hermitude (2012) and The Jezabels (2011).