The Plug Awards, which have become the de facto honor roll for independent music in recent years, unveiled the list of nominees today, with Seattle rockers Band of Horses and LA's Silversun Pickups leading the way with seven noms each.

Band of Horses

The awards include traditional categories like artist, album, and song of the year, as well as a handful of genre-specific honors for hip-hop, metal, Americana, punk, and electronic/dance, among others. The awards also include honors for music videos, record stores, magazines, Web sites, and even album packaging.

A group of artists, journalists, label reps, and music industry insiders pick the nominees, but the winners are picked directly by fans, who can vote through the Plug Web site between now and January 26, 2007.

The awards will be doled out at a February 10 event at Irving Plaza in New York City, with several nominees set to perform. The nominees include some of the biggest names in indie music, including Beirut, Belle and Sebastian, Cat Power, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, J Dilla, Joanna Newsom, Neko Case, the Hold Steady, Radiohead front man Thom Yorke, and the Knife.

Plug is holding a series of events throughout the US to promote the awards. Check here for more info on upcoming Plug City Highlights Tour events set for Brooklyn, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Brooklyn, and Portland, Oregon.

Here are some of the nominees. Check here for a full list and to vote:

Album of the Year

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time (Sub Pop)

Beirut - Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing)

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (Matador)

Cat Power - The Greatest (Matador)

Girl Talk - Night Ripper (Illegal Art)
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House (Warp)

J Dilla - Donuts (Stones Throw)

Joanna Newsom - Ys (Drag City)

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-)

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas (Dangerbird)

The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)

The Knife - Silent Shout (Mute)

New Artist of the Year

Arctic Monkeys

Band of Horses

Beirut

The Black Angels

Cold War Kids

CSS

Islands

Silversun Pickups

Spank Rock

Tapes 'N Tapes

Tokyo Police Club

Voxtrot

Female Artist of the Year

Ellen Allien

Neko Case

Beth Ditto

Emily Haines

Jenny Lewis

Chan Marshall

Amy Millian

Juana Molina

Joanna Newsom

Jennifer O'Connor

Alice Smith

Shara Worden

Male Artist of the Year

Beirut

Bonnie "Prince" Billy/Will Oldham

Chad VanGaalen

Greg Gillis (Girl Talk)

J Dilla

Jamie Lidell

John Darnielle

M. Ward

Robert Pollard

Scott Walker

Sufjan Stevens

Thom Yorke

Live Act of the Year

Animal Collective

Art Brut

The Big Sleep

Broken Social Scene

CSS

Deerhoof

Jamie Lidell

Man Man

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

Silversun Pickups

Spank Rock

The Hold Steady

Song of the Year

Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" (Domino)

Band of Horses - "The Funeral" (Sub Pop)

Gossip - "Standing In the Way of Control" (Kill Rock Stars)

Hot Chip - "And I Was a Boy From School" (Astralwerks)

Hot Chip - "Over and Over" (Astralwerks)

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - "Rise Up With Fists" (Team Love)

Midlake - "Roscoe" (Bella Union)

Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks" (Wichita)

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" (DangerBird)

The Coup - "Laugh/Love/F***" (Epitaph)

The Knife - "We Share Our Mother's Health" (Mute)

Tokyo Police Club - "Nature of the Experiment" (Paper Bag)