Let me begin by stating that the past ten years have been great for music. Need proof? Simply take a stroll through Ghostly International’s 110 favorite albums of the decade. Seeing such a wealth of forward-thinking music lined up—spine to (virtual) spine—is simultaneously both humbling and exciting, laying bare the legacy of what’s come before and the boundless possibilities of the future; and with 2009 serving as the decade’s capstone, we’re closing things out in fine form.

While the year-in-review may have seen the majority of the dance community at large entering into an artistic holding pattern, with truckload upon truckload of anonymous, interchangeable schlock being churned out on a weekly basis, the hordes of artists operating at the fringes of the scene stepped up to the plate, reinforcing, at least for this writer, everything exciting and consistently fresh about electronic music. As a result, 2009 was a year of reflection, sonic adventuring and, yes, even a return to listening to feature-length albums.

Listed below are my favorite ten records from 2009. They may not be the “best” albums of the year, nor are they necessarily the most popular—but they are the ones that resonated with me the most on a personal level, the ones that made their way into my playlists and onto my turntable time and again, never losing their freshness. With that said, I present to you my picks for 2009’s best artist albums. Enjoy.

1. Brock Van Wey / White Clouds Drift On And On (Echospace [Detroit])
Whereas Echospace built their reputation on the backs of the dub techno revival, topping DJ charts and earning critical acclaim for their post-Basic Channel bass reductions, Brock Van Wey (a.k.a. BVDub) took the label into fresh territory with White Clouds. The album stands as one of the most achingly beautiful ambient records of the year, all heart-swelling orchestral crescendos and shapeless vocal murmurings, but it’s the companion disc of Intrusion remixes that steals the show. It’s not techno, it’s not IDM…just pure, rhythmically-driven electronic music to get lost in.

2. Alva Noto / Xerrox, Vol. 2 (Raster-Noton)
The second in Carsten Nicolai’s ongoing series delving into the possibilities of intense sample manipulation, Xerrox, Vol. 2 is imbued with a more overtly musical tone than its predecessor. Built out of recordings culled from sessions with such luminaries of the avant garde as Stephen O’Malley and Ryuichi Sakamoto, the album rewards close listening as its seemingly monotonous “drone” aesthetic” opens up to reveal a wealth of texture and detail. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this is Mr. Nicolai’s most accessible offering to come along in years!

3. Mokira – Persona (Type)
At first, I wasn’t sold on Persona, despite my excited anticipation for its release. Nevertheless, Persona, which marks the second Mokira long-player for the acclaimed Type imprint, ultimately won me over. Recalling the vintage dub techno experimentalism of the Chain Reaction imprint co-mingled with Krautrock’s kosmische legacy, the album dwells in a gnarled maze of tape delay feedback and analog circuitry. Sure, it’s a dirty, slow-burning and heavy trip, but it’s very much on par with Mokira’s best works.

4. William Basinski / 92982 (2062)
I may very well be the only self-professed fan of ambient music that doesn’t start slobbering all over himself at the mere mention of Mr. Basinski’s seminal Disintegration Loops series. For whatever reason, much of his output has just left me cold. That was, at least, until I heard this little gem of a record. Thanks to 92982, I now get the hype, and it feels great.

5. Gieuseppe Ielasi / Aix (12k)
Taylor Deupree’s 12k imprint celebrated its tenth anniversary this year by releasing a string of near-perfect albums that kicked off in January with Aix, the latest missive from Italian producer Giuseppe Ielasi. Forgoing the more drone-oriented aesthetic of Ielasi’s previous work, Aix takes the micro-sampling techniques that Jan Jelinek perfected and grafts them onto the sort of minimal, vertically structured templates that would make SND proud. Densely textured and beautifully produced, this represents the aesthetic pinnacle of 12k’s output to date.

6. Vladislav Delay / Tummaa (Leaf)
A departure from the traditionally more synthetic tonal palette that defines Sasu Ripatti’s releases under the Vladislav Delay moniker, Tummaa found him employing a live trio featuring Craig Armstrong on keys, Lucio Capece on clarinet and saxophone, and Ripatti himself holding down percussion. Originally trained as a jazz drummer, this approach hardly caught Ripatti out of his element; much to the contrary, Tummaa marks his greatest artistic achievement in years.

7. Celer / Capri (Humming Conch)
One of the greatest (and I dare say overlooked) tragedies of 2009 was the loss of Danielle Baquet-Long, who passed away in July due to heart failure. Danielle was only 26, but in collaboration with her husband, Will, she managed to record a wealth of wonderful ambient music that has been slowly trickling out over the past few years. For me, Capri is the ultimate encapsulation of their sound. Comprised of 29 tiny sonic miniatures built from orchestral loops and processed piano melodies, this is deeply romantic music made all the more poignant by the loss of such a young talent.

8. Rameses III / I Could Not Love You More (Type)
A veritable glut of beautifully executed ambient guitar albums saw release this year, but none quite managed to measure up to Rameses III’s. Rooted equally in the somewhat disparate worlds of shoegaze and folk, I Could Not Love You More is the straightforward sort of ambient record that has been all but lost in the wake of Christian Fennesz and Tim Hecker.

9. Kevin Drumm / Imperial Horizon (Hospital Productions)
Kevin Drumm has come a long way since his days shelling out molten white noise on such charmingly titled releases as I Drink Your Skin and Sheer Hellish Miasma; but while a formless, single-track drone album whose running time stretches well over an hour may sound like an exercise in pretense and self-indulgence, Kevin Drumm’s Imperial Horizon is quite the opposite. Indeed, the album transcends notions of structure to become a study in sound as an end unto itself. A pure dulcet sonic sculpture devoid of origin or resolution, Imperial Horizon simply just…is.

10. Pixel / The Drive (Raster-Noton)
While Pixel’s 2006 debut release for Raster-Noton, Set Your Center Between Your Parts In Order To, might have suffered from being a bit by-the-numbers, The Drive finds the artist truly coming into their own, carving out a rough-edged aesthetic that sets them apart from the rest of the label’s stable. Coming off like an acidic revision of Ezekiel Honig’s homespun downtempo, the album feels barely contained at times, as tendrils of feedback writhe around the mix, threatening to break off and melt your speakers. However, the shuffling beats that pad about in the background keep things grounded, making this one of the most surprisingly enjoyable releases of the year.

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Ametsub / The Nothings Of The North (Progressive Form)
The Archivist / The Keeper Of The Library (Lacies)
Greg Davis / Mutually Arising (Kranky)
Tim Hecker / An Imaginary Country (Kranky)
Lokai / Transition (Thrill Jockey)
Monolake / Silence (Imbalance)
Mountains / Choral (Thrill Jockey)
Seaworthy / 1897 (12k)
TU M’ / Monochromes, Vol. 1 (Line)
Variant / The Setting Sun (Echospace [Detroit])