dadrocker

It's that time when when music critics compile albums of the year, and for me there is only one contender.

Forget Neon Bible, Favourite Worst Nightmare and Bruce Live in Dublin. My album of the year is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - A Soothing Collection of Gentle Songs and Lullabys for Little Ones. Since the birth of my son four months ago, this CD has been on endless repeat on our CD player for the past four months and, for sheer, poptastic, baby-friendly brilliance, there is no record out this year that comes even close. This CD is an hour's worth of cradle-rockin' heaven, a veritable Pet Sounds of pristine pop, a sonic phantasmagoria that rivals Sgt Pepper for sheer colour and tunefulness.

You hear people talking about the record that saved their life. Well, this one has saved mine - it's kept me calm when the little fella has been acting like a spoilt rock star.

The album has 31 tracks - perfect Nick Hornby-esque symmetry - and the songs snap by with the nimbleness of The Pixies' Doolittle. It's only available through Marks & Spencer, which is probably why it's not as well-known as, say, ones by Kooks or Reverend & the Makers, but that just adds to its cult value.

The catchiest tunes in Christendom are gathered here, including Me & My Teddy Bear, Hush a Bye Baby and Little Bo Peep. Some have Oasis-style titles (I Can Sing a Rainbow); others feature Blur-like characters (Wee Willie Winkie, Little Boy Blue). Golden Slumbers shares its title with a Beatles song, but the Fab Four are in the ha'penny place here.

The album sleeve doesn't list the artists, but each of them could, I am certain, stand up alongside any of the current crop of pop and alt.rock stars. Listen to the jazzy swing of Goodnight and tell me that Neil Hannon could have done a better job. In fact, if it turned out that the Divine Comedy frontman was moonlighting as a singer on children's albums, I wouldn't be surprised.

The alt.country croak of Mocking Bird is worthy of Bonnie "Prince" Billy himself, and the folksy canter of Dance to Your Daddy is pure Richard Thompson. The Gallic tones of Au Clair de La Lune could have come straight off an Air album, while the plaintive tones of The Stars and the Moon evoke American Music Club's Mark Eitzel. And the chavette chorus on Hey Diddle Diddle? It's Kate Nash, innit?

There's a lot of music out there tailor-made for kids, from Baby Mozart to The Wiggles, but remember: it doesn't matter whether you play Beethoven or Beyoncé to your kid - once it has a tune and a simple lyric, they'll love it. That just about covers 99 per cent of what's in the charts.

Your choice of favourite album will usually reflect where you were at when the record was out. Ziggy Stardust was released about the same time as my teenage hormones broke loose, and Led Zep's Physical Graffitti soundtracked my clumsy attempts at being cock-of- the-walk.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star perfectly reflects where I'm at today: finding my feet in la-la land.