Ranking 2009: Albums
1. Sunn O))), Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord)
2. The xx, xx (Young Turks)
3. Emeralds, What Happened (No Fun)
4. Black to Comm, Alphabet 1968 (Type)
5. Benzo, The Dust/The Tapes: Mania Remixes (Sex Tags Mania / Laton)
6. Demdike Stare, Symbiosis (Modern Love)
7. Kevin Drumm, Imperial Horizon (Hospital Productions)
8. Lukid, Foma (Werk)
9. Moritz von Oswald Trio, Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon's)
10. Monolake, Silence (ml/I)
11. Pepe Bradock, Confiote de Bits (K7)
12. September Collective, Always Breathing Monster (Mosz)
13. Beak>, Recordings (Invada)
14. Mapstation, The Africa Chamber (~scape)
15. Ben Frost, By the Throat (Bedroom Community)
16. Ethernet, 144 Pulsations of Light (Kranky)
17. Fuck Buttons, Tarot Sport (ATP)
18. Fever Ray, Fever Ray (Rabid)
19. Mocky, Saskamodie (Crammed)
20. DJ Sprinkles, Midtown 120 Blues (Mule)
21. Atom TM, Liedgut (Raster Noton)
22. Vladislav Delay, Tummaa (Huume)
23. Jon Hassell, The Moon Dropped… (ECM)
24. Elm, Nemcatacoa (Digitalis)
25. Lokai, Transition (Mosz)
26. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (Warp)
27. Pixel, The Drive (Raster Noton)
28. Redshape, The Dance Paradox (Delsin)
29. Shackleton, Three EPs (Perlon)
30. Ras G, Brotha From Anotha Planet (Brainfeeder)
Honorable mention (aka other albums that could conceivably sit anywhere in the lower half of the above ranking, given my mood at the time of listmaking): Ras G, Brotha from Anotha Planet (Brainfeeder), Untold, Gonna Work Out Fine (Hemlock), Black Jazz Consortium, Structure (Soul People Music), Ben Klock, One (Ostgut), Peverelist, Jarvik Mindstate (Punch Drunk), Atom TM, Muster (Rather Interesting), Lusine, A Certain Distance (Ghostly), Circlesquare, Songs About Dancing and Drugs (K7), Broadcast & Focus Group, Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (Warp), White Rainbow, New Clouds (Kranky), Emeralds, Emeralds (Wagon/Gneiss Things), Leyland Kirby, Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (History Always Favours the Winners)
Album title that best summed up 2009, if not the '00s in general: Leyland Kirby, Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (History Always Favours the Winners)
Discovered too late for listmaking but might well have placed really high if I weren't too lazy to retabulate now: Atlas Sound, Logos (Kranky)
Didn't listen to enough to form a proper opinion, probably to my own detriment: David Sylvian, Manafon (Samadhisound)
2008 albums that would have made my best of '09 had they come out this year, which I initially thought they did: Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (Type)
Just getting around to checking out: Oneohtrix Point Never, Rifts (No Fun)
Best tail-end of '09 discovery: John Talabot and his remixes for Delorean, Zwicker, Aufgang and Al Usher
The hype be damned, some of this "glo-fi" shit is actually pretty promising: Memory Cassette, Neon Indian, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, CFCF, Teengirl Fantasy, Gold Panda
Gear trend of 2009: modular synthesizers
Softsynth of 2010: U-he's A.C.E. (Any Cable Everywhere virtual modular)