Top Albums 2009

Well here we are, at the half-way point of 2010, and here I am, posting my favourite albums of LAST year. Timely huh?

Traveling for the final three months of 2009 (and into 2010) hampered not only my listening but also my blogging. However I'm back and here we go...


10 Jon-Rae Fletcher - Oh, Maria

Leaving The River behind, Jon-Rae reinvented his sound on this album but still features his signature booming voice. Mixing elements from folk, rock and country, this album, bookended by two strong Maria-songs, blazes a new sonic trail - one that I'll gladly walk from end-to-end.

9 Think About Life - Family

A party album through and through. I found myself dancing alone to these songs far too many times for it to be left off my year-end list. Bursting out of the gate with Johanna I could hardly wait for Set You On Fire but luckily the wait was passed with fancy footwork.

8 Coeur De Pirate - Coeur De Pirate

Much figurative ink has been spilled about this lovely inked artist on this very blog. She makes Quebec-French sexy with her piano tunes with pop - perfect for the spring (and fittingly including a stand-out track entitled Printemps).

7 Akron/Family - Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free

There's an energy here. Something indescribable kept luring me back to this album, more than any individual song. I find with that I'm partial to Canadian artists, but in this case I'm more than willing to make an exception.

6 Bus Driver - Jhelli Beam
Favourite song of the year, opening track - Split Seconds. That's a huge reason why this album got so much air-time but it was worthy. Admittedly I don't listen to a heckuva lot of hip-hop however there are songs on here that are like nothing I'd heard before. It's lyrically dense and makes my head swirl, like having your friends spin you as fast as they can on a merry-go-round.

5 Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain is a Mouth

Nothing can capture the spectacle of the wall of voices that is a Bruce Peninsula show, yet this album is still successful in itself. Rumbling along the choir sings tunes that'll stick in your head for days - or in my case all year.

4 Sunparlour Players - North

Album opener, North is a perfect fit. People complain that the trio remains bridled throughout this record, not letting loose as they've been known to do. I pay them no attention - it suits me just fine (and I know the shows continue to be raucous).

3 The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns

Quite an amazing year for The RAA and rightly so. This album sticks to its Albertan theme and comes through as a whole. That simple closer, Summertime, had me flipping back over to Side A to immediately start the whole thing over again more than a few times this year.

2 Maybe Smith - Another Murder in the Morning

Its frenetic and it runs by. It feels like new things are being tossed at you throughout it and perhaps that was why I would return again and again. It challenged me to try and get a handle on it, and each time I'd discover something new.

1 Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice

Dan created a gem. His endearingly gruff voice covering a huge range (case and point Basket) while singing quotable, witty lyrics. After hearing the Roboteering EP I could hardly wait for this full-length to arrive, and even those heightened expectations were exceeded. This seemingly simple singer-songwriter closed in on perfecting his craft here.

The End. Enjoy, and see you next year.