Albums Of The Year: Alternative No. 1

ALPHINO - 'Lens Flare'

Let's get the sniggering out of the way right now. Yes, this is the band I am in, and it is indeed the album we made, so you'd be forgiven for suspecting a certain bias here. In fact, I'll see your bias and raise you a favouritism. But I will not repent, and I would have made this my bona fide album of the year did it not go against the criteria me and Jonster had agreed upon (despite being recorded and finished in 2006, it will not be available to buy until January, therefore making it a 2007 release).

But I won't apologise. We worked very hard making this album, and I'm extremely proud of it. Not just the hard work, as work does not always make a great album, but the end result too. It is everything I was hoping for, and more. I can honestly say that this collection of songs, recorded and produced in this way, is the best thing I've heard all year. And surely it's a bigger compliment to be that proud of your own work, as everyone has a tendency to be their own harshest critic. So to be able to hear your own work, faults and all, and still be this impressed with it... well, that means I'm either being honest or stupidly arrogant. Probably a bit of both.

All I know is that every other album I've listed has had a record company and money behind it. We had neither, and I believe it still stands head-and-shoulders above the competition. If I wasn't in this band, and had never heard of us, it'd still be my favourite album. So there.