So, here we are my musical playmates, at the tail end of 2009 with “Top Ten” lists jamming your inboxes, twitter feeds, and collective unconscious. I find myself overwhelmed when faced with the task of writing down that looming “Top Ten.” In an attempt to narrow down the scope of my list, as well as in taking full advantage of the opportunity to write about what is near and dear, I offer you my humble thoughts on the best music North of the border, 2009. That’s right folks, Canada: home to free health care, equality, and just about the best avant garde, trendsetting, F’d up music around. 
10. MSTRKRFT
Hailing from Toronto, MSTRKRFT, pronounced Master Kraft, released their second EP in ‘09, Fist of God. Swooping synths, scratchy white noise, and chunky, electro dance beats landed these guys on my list. The duo has remixed songs by fellow Canadian crew members Metric and Wolfmother as well as The Kills and Bloc Party. In 2009, the boys signed to Dim Mak/Downtown and collaborated with hip-hop heavy weights Ghostface Killah and E-40. Boom! A fan of Crystal Castles? Daft Punk? Check these guys out and be prepared to break out your best robo-moves.
I had the chance to catch Reg Vermue, a.k.a. Gentleman Reg at The Bowery Ballroom in New York this Fall. His stunning 2009 album, Jet Black, released on “It” Canadian label Arts &Crafts, home to big-ups like Broken Social Scene and Feist, blew me away. It’s not often you stumble upon music that has you aghast and asking, “Why isn’t everyone listening to this?!” Over the past year, Gentleman Reg’s eclectic genre-mashing musings have sort of been my little secret, my go-to album for everything from inky 80s inspired dance to tethered and bluesy, sly, indie chill. He won’t be staying under the radar for long, so I suggest you beat the crowds while you still can.
8. OHBIJOU
Ohbijou is a group of people from Canada who sing and play instruments together and make music, but don’t call them a band. OK? Preferring, “friends, a curatorial movement, familial unit, assembly of musicians, and philanthropic initiative” to the former, Ohbijou are my number eight reason to love Canada this year…and maybe next? I’m predicting an unbearably long line at their SXSW showcase this year. Another great big Canadian collective to fuss over, Ontario-based Ohbijou sound like pillowy exchanges during a late-night slumber party: nostalgic, delicate embroidering of the heart. There’s a certain intimate yet orchestral gleam to lead singer Casey Mecija’s sympathetic choiring. The critically acclaimed, Beacons, was released on Last Gang Records in 2009, and features some of the loudest, feverish rustling I’ve heard all year.
7. K’NAAN
A Somali-born rapper who landed in Toronto at the age of 13, inspired by Eric B and Rakim, and raps about everything from his war-torn homeland to learning ones “ABCs,” K’Naan’s heavily buzzed-about 2009 release, Troubadour, didn’t need much help but certainly picked up steam with guest spots from Damian Marley and Mos Def. On the top of almost every critic’s 2009 watch list, K’Naan offers some of the freshest, most intelligent beats around and boasts an authentic sense of self that challenges the tired, hip-hop stereotypes still being regurgitated in the mainstream.
6. JAPANDROIDS
They hit SXSW last year, rocked CMJ in October, played NYC’s Siren Festival this past summer, and are already slotted for SXSW 2010 return. Beyond buzz, you should be listening to Japandroids if you dig raw, mashed up, cymbal crashing, fuzzed out, beat up, rock with an infectious heart. The emo-steeped “coming of age” tale we know all too well is at the core of this duo, and honestly, it’s what really makes them so damn hard to resist. You know the yearning, bratty chorus by heart: “We used to dream/ Now we worry about dying/ I don’t want to worry about dying,” but this time it’s packaged in a rousing, busted up, pure punk-drunk adrenaline shot.
5. THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
I have to admit, I just sort of stumbled upon this trio not that long ago, but boy do they deserve to be on this list. Signed to Saddle Creek, in 2009 they released Hometowns, 13 indie rock love letters that pay homage to everything from the beauty of the Alberta wild rose flower to summers in the Rockies to rising towns and hometown honeys. The organic beauty and soil of the rural Canadian countryside is mirrored in this affectionate and nostalgic collection of songs. They are also playing SXSW 2010; stay tuned for my full report.
I caught Timber Timbre (a.k.a. Taylor Kirk) at his packed to capacity Arts & Crafts CMJ showcase in October at Union Pool in Brooklyn. It was worth being sardined in a tiny bat cave to witness this rising dark horse summon the souls of many to his hearth. Timber Timbre’s self-titled 2009 release is a chilling folk-blues foray into a strange world of soulful and haunted hymns, acoustic stillness, cloaked and rising choirs and gloomy, hollow pastoral visions…it’s what you would imagine it sounds like as your passing from this life to the next; vacant, washed out coolness punctuated with flashes of recognition—chirping sparrows, leaves rustling, and cinematic last glances. Kirk had produced one of the most original artistic visions I’ve come across in the past year.
There’s no denying that Sub Pop had a big 2009. Celebrating an anniversary and a kick-ass roster which includes Fleet Foxes and my #3 pick on this list, The Handsome Furs. Face Control, the band’s second release garnered a lot of enthusiasm and kept the two touring for the better part of ‘09. The album is punchy, electro boss with a Soviet slink-all the heart and rumble of Springsteen matched with some of the raunchiest keyboard clout I’ve ever heard. This Montreal match made in heaven, husband and wife duo, Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, are so damn sexy when they perform the music pretty much seeps from their pores. The sweaty kinetics between these two live trumps for best live show of 2009 in my book.
2. FUCKED UP
Whether you like hardcore or not, Fucked Up is a band that you need to know about. Winners of the elite 2009 Polaris prize for their album The Chemistry of Common Life, these Toronto-based breakneckers have pretty much owned top spots on almost every list over the past two years. Some critics have been bold enough to claim that the band’s second release has even “redefined hardcore.” With intelligent, provoking lyrics and melodic subterfuges this isn’t your mama’s hardcore. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re on Matador, played a twelve hour marathon album release show last year which featured drop-ins from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis, or that they open the album with a wind instrument that has all the indie-kids perched, but one listen and you have to admit Fucked Up is bringing something different to the game. Now we could get all huge with how many overdubs there are on a particular track or the nerdiness and wonder of the atypical instrument choices they’re batting with or I could just tell you that it’s one of the most thrilling, charging, genre-bending, pioneering albums of the past ten years, never mind 2009.
Tell me you’re not surprised that my favorite Canadians took top honors on my list of reasons to heart Canada 2009. Tegan and Sara are a PopWreckoning favorite and we’ve been all over coverage for the girls’ highly anticipated, stellar sixth album, Sainthood, released in October to wide critical praise. Fans of the twins have been pining for new music since wearing out 2007’s The Con. The new material is a creative push forward for the sisters, one that boasts a heart-wrenching, hyper-analytic, intellectual aplomb and is decidedly more experimental; marking the first time the sisters penned tracks together. I can’t deny my love for the twins’ addictive, power-pop, motives of love and I’m already anxious for new music…most anticipated album of 2012?
