This was a strange music year for me. After spending the past few years immersing myself almost entirely in ambient, drone, and various strains of dance music, I inadvertently returned to my “indie roots” (sorry, pretentious) and listened to a lot more of the straightforward albums that Pitchfork was slinging. I found stuff like the new Flaming Lips, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Memory Tapes, and, of course, Animal Collective to be refreshing, and it kind of restored my faith in indie music. I gotta throw it out there that I didn’t check out nearly as much new music this year as I have in the past few, so I feel like my list could be stronger. The truth is, I spent a good chunk of the year listening exclusively to Unwound’s Leaves Turn Inside You. Oh, and there were a couple of months when all I listened to was Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday. And nowadays, I’m basically only playing Rage. I was told this is because I’m angsty. So anyway, here’s my top ten albums of 2009:

10. Deuce – EP + Planetary Assault Systems rmx

The techno fans out there are probably well aware of the splashes that both Shed and Marcel Dettmann made last year, with Shedding the Past and Berghain 02 respectively, but for those who aren’t in the know, these two are pretty much putting out the best techno there is right now. While this collaboration yielded very little output this year (a three-track EP and a Planetary Assault Systems remix), they made up for scant quantity with four mind-bending grooves of the highest order. These collective 23 minutes are the most punishing, relentless dance music I heard all year, with the obvious reference point being Jeff Mills’ fabled 1995 DJ set at the Liquid Room in Tokyo and methamphetamines.

9. Ben Frost – By The Throat

Imagine a dude who makes vicious, distorted swells (and the odd wolf growl) with his instruments. Then think about how awesome they might sound paired with Sigur Ros’ string section, Aniima. And then if he added Nico Muhly, a dude from Arcade Fire, and some Swedish metal band. Might as well reference Twin Peaks while he’s at it, huh? Now look at that cover. You want some of this.

8. Brock Van Wey – White Clouds Drift On and On

Perfectly titled, this is a dubbed out, gorgeous collection of overlapping drones, which, much like the clouds overhead, are continually morphing, expanding, and contracting despite seeming stagnant. It’s important to throw it out there that this is on Echospace, which means you’re definitely not dealing with your run-of-the-mill drones here. Even better is that Steve Hitchell (Intrusion) was so enamored with the music, he busted out a track-for-track remix album to be included with the release. If Echospace is one of your go-to labels, make this the next album you check out.

7. Bear in Heaven – Beast Rest Forth Mouth

This one really took me be surprise. Despite my stubborn insistence that indie rock needs to be stuffed with experimental flourishes for me to enjoy it, it turns out that, no, solid songwriting, tons of hooks, spot-on production, and a kick ass drummer is all it really takes to make me happy. Plus, the whole thing smacks of the 80s (in terms of melodies, not production), and the singer kind of sounds like Peter Cetera to me. So there’s that.

6. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms

OK, first off…There’s a track on here called “Should’ve Taken Acid With You,” so you get a pretty good idea of what you’re in for. This right here is some straight up ear candy. Like Daft Punk or Tispy before him, Neon Indian takes ridiculously cheesy sound sources and melds them into heady, ass-kicking tracks. There’s not a second that goes by without a sound bouncing all over your headspace, and he coats everything in delay, reverb, phasing, flanging, and anything else that’ll make it sound like a jet passing overhead. Oh, and it’s surprisingly effective for getting toddler-aged girls to shake their booties on a Saturday morning.

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Since summer’s been in full swing for a few months now, I’ve found myself listening to a lot of one particular artist, whose output consistently matches the sunny, blue-skied days of late. The man I’m referring to is the Basic Channel-influenced, Glasgow-based ambient techno master, Pub. Like a lot of the best techno artists, Pub has remained relatively unknown, despite releasing a string of brilliant albums over the past ten years or so.

I was initially going to leave the “Basic Channel-influenced” part out of the description, because I didn’t want to suggest that this has a lot in common with the artists in the Deepchord/Echospace camp. Sure, they’re both tapping those oceanic ambient washes, but Pub’s approach to rhythm is much less rooted in heavily delayed beats, and relies more on hypnotic poly-rhythms you might associate with Phaedra- or Rubycon-era Tangerine Dream.

While Tanner (current Pure Pop clerk) and I were in Asia this past winter, one of the few albums that he and I continually agreed on when it came time to bust out the iPod dock was Pub’s 2002 release, >Single. This was especially true when we were on the ocean, as the ebbs and flows of music always seemed to perfectly augment the lapping waves nearby. Along with (unsurprisingly and not coincidentally) Echospace‘s The Coldest Season (which you need to check out right now), it was the album I listened to the most that month.

What’s interesting about Pub’s style is that he’s carved out a niche within the dubby ambient techno scene, but it’s tough to nail down exactly what it is that makes his sounds unique. He’s in the enviable position of being someone who’s instantly recognizable within a few seconds of any given track, but he keeps things fresh enough to make each release seem like a revelation to his fans. Since artists like Pub are inherently tough to describe, I’d suggest not taking my word for it, but checking out some of his releases for yourself. I’d start with both >Single and Summer at jumping off points, and after you’ve absorbed those, move onto his two most recent projects, Making Trakcx Vols. 1-10 and Cassette Tape #1 and 2. His releases are notoriously pressed in small numbers, so I think at this point it’s kosher to hit up the MP3 blogs. If you care to check availability, though, I’d suggest going to his label’s website, or to BoomKat or right here through Pure Pop. Take advantage of these last few precious waning days of summer, and sync up your surroundings to this stuff. You’ll hear what I’m talking about…