In no particular order...

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (LP)
I'd been following Dave Longstreth's Dirty Projectors for around three years, since first seeing the Brooklyn post-chamber-freak-rock group play the Music Gallery for the Over the Top Festival in spring 2006. I loved their first two records, The Getty Address and the New Attitude EP, but I was even more enamoured by Rise Above, their bossa-nova-ish reimagining of the landmark hardcore album Damaged by Black Flag, which, it turns out (boasting alert!) they first played live at their Wavelength show at Sneaky Dee's in fall 2006 for the X Avant Festival. But nothing could have prepared me for how massive their next recorded effort would be — in every possible way. Not only has their popularity exploded five-fold, they also made what I believe is not only the best album of the year, but the best album of the decade — redeeming an otherwise moribund span of 10 years for music not-from-Toronto.

Bitte Orca was absolutely inescapable for me this past summer. It wasn't like it was on the radio, in fact I can't hardly remember any instances of hearing it randomly. It was just The Record I Wanted To Put On All The Time. I can't remember the last time I was that addicted to an album. 2009 was  a year of many new beginnings for me personally, and Bitte Orca was like a companion who understood all the wild swings of mood that accompany a period of transition. (Cough, yeah, big break-up.) In pretty much anyway context or headspace, putting on Bitte made me feel betta — even if I was already in a good mood. What was it about this record that was so seductively sympathetic? Longstreth's head-spinning yet delicious guitar work? Amber and Angel's honey-dripping yet speaker-popping harmonies? That floor-shaking yet oh-so-pillowy kick drum sound on "Stillness is the Move"? If I can pin it down to one thing, it's that Bitte Orca is a real Album — more than just a collection of songs, yet not a concept record either. Every single song has a personality of its own, and the way they flow together makes it, well, something like a "community" of tunes. Especially the middle trio of the justifiably hyped Mariah Carey/R&B-nodding single "Stillness," the near-future jazz standard "Two Doves," and the tender tension-and-release rock epic, "Useful Chamber." Heard all together, these diverse pieces all sound like the work of one artist's vision.

Mark McLean (dude)
The Toronto music scene's Man of the Year. This former member of way-ahead-of-their-time Toronto no-wave bands The Sick Lipstick and Black Cat #13 was seemingly in hibernation for the last handful of years. But in 2009, he re-emerged with an amazing new band, the Magic Cheezies — who squeeze Riot Grrl punk through a noize grater — as well as booking Teranga on Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market (turning it from a near-bottom-feeder venue into one of this town's most crucial venues for noise/punk/experimental rock), doing sound at two venues (The Garrison and Sneaky Dee's) and starting his own postering business. What enabled this flurry of activity? You'll have to ask him yourself.

The Garrison (venue)
What can we say? We love our new home. Our friend and member of the Wavelength family, Shaun Bowring, had been talking about opening his own space for years, and parting ways with Sneaky Dee's mid-summer — after having booked the upstairs for five good years — gave him the impetus he needed. By the end of August, he and partner Lee Van Deghel had found the perfect space, a former pool hall most recently known as Portugal Bar & Lounge, and they reno'ed it and got it up and running incredibly fast — The Garrison opened its doors with a Glass Candy show on Oct. 1st, and Wavelength had our "Housewarming" show there just 3 nights later. With the layout and dimensions of the Horseshoe and the unpretentious, minimalist vibe of Ted's Wrecking Yard (WL's original home in 2000-01), this is the place we've been waiting for for years.

Bruce Peninsula — A Mountain Is A Mouth (LP)
Our own BP released A Mountain Is A Mouth back in February, and for some reason — perhaps due to its early-year arrival or the fact that is was self-released — it didn't make it onto anywhere near the number of year-end-best-of lists that it deserved to. Bruce Peninsula often get mistaken for another "Canadian collective band" but thankfully, they're not. Instead of a bunch of people palling around onstage, strumming major chords, clapping hands and slapping backs, they're a tightly focussed four-piece band — with some pretty impressive math/prog-rock chops — who are adjoined/augmented/expanded by a choir. With their live show having blown us away over the last two years, everyone was wondering if their debut full-length recording would do them justice, but it adds a whole dimension to their sometimes ecstatic, sometimes foreboding, gospel-infused indie folk blues.

Watchmen (film)
My only non-musical choice is admittedly an odd one. I don't get the sense anyone else was too jazzed about the cinematic adaptation of Alan Moore's influential graphic novel, but it blew me away. I'm not much of a comics guy, either, and in fact I didn't read the book until this year, either. In fact, I finished reading it the night before seeing the movie, which made for an amazingly immersive multi-media experience. More so than Avatar, which despite beautiful visuals, suffered from a predictable storyline and an often laughable third act. Zack Snyder's adaptation beautifully translated both the alternate-'80s Cold War ambience and the deep understanding of human nature found in Moore's book, with a nerdy attention to detail that is never distracting. I was surprised by how faithful it was to the source material, but at the same time the film took on a dramatic life of its own, unlike some other recent, too-faithful book-to-film attempts in the genre (The Golden Compass, Hitchhiker's Guide). This is the definitive superhero movie that The Dark Knight was purported to be.

Diamond Rings / PS I Love You (split 7" + videos)
Speaking of multi-media experiences, how about this package of indie-pop excellence? Two of the catchiest pop singles released anywhere this year — "All Yr Songs" by Diamond Rings, the alter ego of Torontonian and D'Urbervilles member John O'Regan, and "Facelove" by Kingston, Ontario duo PS I Love You — could be found on both a purty pink split seven-inch single (complete with MP3 download, of course) and on two amazing videos on YouTube. This Colin-Medley-directed pair are honestly two of my favourite music vids since the glory days of CityLimits, and each reflects the spirit of its song. "All Yr Songs" is fun and hilarious and goofily romantic, with John O almost channelling Jonathan Richman through his various stylin' costume changes. And the CN Tower bluescreen shot is a Toronto moment for the ages. "Facelove," meanwhile, is a shot-by-shot recreation of Joy Division' classic video for "Love Will Tear Us Apart," even down to the rehearsal room, Vox guitars and grainy, turn-of-the-'80s picture quality. I don't know what singer Paul Saulnier is saying, but appropriately enough it sounds like an earnest love song, and non-retch-inducing additions to that canon are welcome in any year.

DD/MM/YYYY + Romo Roto vinyl
Yes, you may have heard all about vinyl coming back in the last couple of years, and I for one am a true believer. Better sound quality, bigger artwork and the option to download the tracks to your portable player? Can't argue with that formula. Two interconnected Toronto bands were at the forefront of the vinyl renaissance in '09, with the seemingly telepathically connected psych/art/math-rock quintet DD/MM/YYYY unleashing Black Square on We Are Busybodies back in April, and then Romo Roto, the duo of DMY's Tomas and Machetes' Alex, following that up with their Unicorn Tsunami EP on Holy Holy Holy. I first saw Romo Roto at the start of the year, and they are definitely one of Toronto's most exciting bands of '09 — using just drums and their voices and playing face to face, Tomas and Alex create a 360° dance party. Make sure you go see them at a show where they play on the floor. And bring enough spending money to take their record home with you.

Mahmoud Ahmed on Christmas Day (show)
I missed this semi-annual event two years ago and heard it was the sweatiest dance floor of 2007, so this past week I decided to cut and run after Christmas dinner with the family, and cut a rug at this west-end banquet hall instead. It's a tradition in the Toronto Ethiopian community to bring in a well-known singer from the homeland for a concert on the night of Dec 25th, and what a great idea. For one thing, Mahmoud Ahmed is probably the greatest Ethiopian singer alive, and at 68 years old he is still a spry, energetic performer — he played three sets that night, and wowed everyone with his dance moves. On top of that, everyone in a festive spirit, and looking to burn off excess calories. It doesn't hurt that the Ethiopian crowd is so mellow and welcoming, and they really know how to party. The Lithuanian House was a real multi-culti experience that night too, with a Korean Christmas party on the main floor, the Mahmoud show on the second, and a ripping Roma party featuring a live band and copious amounts of food and booze upstairs.

Magik Markers in the Music Gallery Courtyard / Wavelength at PS Kensington (shows)
Kevin already covered three of Wavelength's Special Events for 2009 in his Top 9 — Cloud Eye Control & Ammo Factory at Images Festival, Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests and the ALL CAPS! Island Show — so I'm not going to duplicate him. But I can't stress enough what a fantastic year this was for Wavelength and our events beyond the Sunday series that the world associates us with. Starting with our Wavelength 450 Ninth Anniversary Festival — every night of which was incredible, not to mention sold out — we had a winning streak of successful shows, and this just reinforces our decision to end the weekly series and focus on our bigger events.

These two shows both took place out of doors and successful exported the Wavelength experience into public space (of sorts). On June 27, Wavelength presented U.S. noise-rock trailblazers Magik Markers, along with their Brooklyn pals Mouthus and a WL-commissioned collab between Toronto experimentalists and Beniffer Editions bosses Gastric Female Reflex and their Montreal compadres, Wasted Nymph, in the open-air courtyard of the Music Gallery's space at St. George the Martyr Church. Though this show was ticketed, the sound was certainly shared with the Grange Park neighbourhood! (We do apologize to any residents who were bothered, but we did send out advance warning to the nearby apartment building and stopped before the 11pm noise curfew.) I had friends tell me they heard it from as far away as Dundas.

With the GFR vs WN mash-up starting slightly before sunset, the MG Courtyard resembled an open-air science fair, or one of those Sumo Robot Challenges they hold at OCAD, as the two sides faced off on either side of a big table. The gadget battle included tape decks, cheap keyboards, cheaper guitars, oscillators and a mouth-horn that resembled a flashlight. The light-heartedness of the battle and the occasional hilarity of the sound tinkering laid waste to at least one thing: the notion that noise music has to be serious, chin-stroking business.

Mouthus followed with a heavy-duty set of harsh, metal-inspired drones that hypnotized the assembled faithful, but Magik Markers were the highlight of the night. With General Chaos' psychedelic visuals projected on the walls of the church behind the cobblestone "stage," and the crowd sitting on the grass in front of the 19th century tower on a perfect summer night, it was like a scene from Monterey Pop or something — and there was only 130 people there. With members spread all over the U.S. — singer/guitarist Elisa Ambrogio in Seattle, drummer Pete Nolan in Brooklyn, new bassist John Shaw hailing from Holyoke, Mass. — it's amazing the Markers can pull it together, but this show was near-transcendental. The band has evolved far beyond the sheer noise freakouts for which they first gained notice around 2005; since Ambrogio started crafting more blues/punk-inspired songs for their breakthrough '07 record Boss, their sound has moved into more psych territory that, despite their geographical spread, has a real California feel. It really was one of the most memorable and mesmerizing nights of the summer.

The elements weren't quite in our favour for our other outdoor show attempt. Wavelength curated a musical stage at the July 26th edition of P.S. Kensington, a.k.a. Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market. It was a great opportunity to share some of the city's best indie music with the captive audience that crowds the streets of the Market the last Sunday of every month in summer — in theory. The day started with thunderstorms, and a bunch of phone calls from people telling us to pull the plug. We were definitely on the fence, but the optimism of PSK organizers Shamez Amlani and Yvonne Bambrick convinced us to keep going. The rain had subsided by the time we set up the tented stage behind Sam's Convenience at College & Augusta (this was before its recent streetscaping, so everything was on a mild slant), and the first performers, Isla Craig, The Guest Bedroom, and my own band Danger Bay, all played under clear skies. But menacing stormclouds rolled in for hip-hop artist Mindbender's set. Toronto emcee Addi Stewart refused to let the downpour stop him, even ignoring the warnings that he might get electrocuted as he wandered out into the soaking street with his microphone. It was a remarkable display of resilience, triumph of the human spirit, etc etc — and it took a non-irony-addled hip-hopper to really embrace the moment.

Things cleared up for Cloak'ed Claw, which was really Hooded Fang in disguise, but that respite was short-lived — the rain came back for the grand finale, Lullabye Arkestra. But the hometown-heroic duo of Kat Taylor-Small and Justin Small — who released a rock-solid album, Threats/Worship, on Vice this year — put on such a powerful rock show that it seemed like they were taunting the elements more than the other way around. Everyone on the asphalt dance floor loosened up and let themselves get wet, the rain just adding to the glorious drama. By the end of the set, the tarp protecting the edge of the two tents had filled with water and had begun to sink down towards Justin's head. A group of us grabbed each corner to try and keep it aloft, but Justin, while still drumming, shouted "Just let it go!" We complied, and the resultant dousing of him, the drum kit and Kat's effects pedals was scary but amazing. Luckily, everyone survived the performance without getting zapped, and everyone there felt like they'd witnessed something special. (For a more complete run-down, please read the wonderfully detailed review over at Mechanical Forest Sound.)

A final note: one of my favourite things about the P.S. Kensington show is that just making the show happen became something of a community barn-raising. The Kensington folks didn't have enough volunteers on hand to help us put up the tents, and things were already behind schedule because of the rain, so audience members who showed up early got drafted to help. And everyone rose to their unexpected responsibility fantastically. A hearty Wavelength thanks to you all!

And Happy New Year, everybody.

Nine Honourable Mentions:

Mechanical Forest Sound (hands down, Toronto's best local-music-scene blog)

Mission of Burma — The Sound The Speed The Light (LP) + "1, 2, 3, Partyy" (single + video)

The Happiness Project by Charles Spearin — s/t LP + live at Music Gallery (March 28)

Art Brut — live at Green Music Festival, Eckhart Park, Chicago (Aug. 15) + Art Brut vs. Satan (LP)

Signal Ensemble performing Michael Gordon's Trance — live at the Wordless music series, Le Poisson Rouge, NYC (April 22)

Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam (documentary)

tUnE-YaRdS — Bird-Brain (LP)

Micachu & the Shapes — "Lips" (single + video)

Induced Labour — live at the Garrison's Boxing Day Special Festival (Dec. 29 show + accompanying message board thread)

- Jonny Dovercourt