J.C. (left), Danko Jones and Damon photo by KATHRYN GAITENS best band Danko Jones So what if Danko Jones sell more records in Stockholm than they do in Canada? That's just the time-honoured Canuck tradition of artists having to prove themselves abroad before getting props at home. The great thing about Danko Jones's success is that they've done it all themselves with memorable tunes and tenacious touring. Although, as Gene Simmons will attest, a frontman with an unusually long tongue doesn't hurt.

best female vocalist
Mary Margaret O'Hara

You don't have to be Morrissey to appreciate the uncommon beauty of Mary Margaret O'Hara's voice. Whether she's effortlessly soaring on a gospel hymn, deconstructing a standard, tossing off a truck commercial or simply cooing like a loon, O'Hara can do it all, with unique style, grace and eccentric wit. The alternately charming and deeply moving songs she recently provided for the Apartment Hunting soundtrack are a reminder of O'Hara's awesome talent, not just as a singer, but as a composer and arranger as well.

best male vocalist
Glenn Lewis

Glenn Lewis is too classy to rub his international success in the face of the Canadian music industry that wouldn't return his calls, but his music does it for him. Unable to get a major-label contract, the Toronto soul singer landed a deal in America, hung out with Stevie Wonder and watched his hit single climb the charts. Lewis's smooth take on R&B isn't particularly innovative; it's his voice - modelled on Wonder's - and his refusal to resort to clichŽd histrionics, that speak loudest. That he's helped kick-start interest in homegrown R&B is just gravy.

best songwriter
Ron Sexsmith

Even without the star-studded, career-making endorsements of famous fans like Elton John, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, Ron Sexsmith would be a shoe-in as Toronto's best songwriter. Over six albums, the singer has refined his soft pop approach, building moods with just a few phrases and an uncanny knack for pop understatement. Even a dangerous experiment with disco and drum machines on his latest Cobblestone Runway disc couldn't dilute Sexsmith's way with words. Domestic success may continue to evade him, but when you're selling out shows as far away as Osaka and Oslo, who needs Canada?

photo by STEVE PAYNE best jingle singer Kathryn Rose Ad execs might argue that a commercial's success depends on the impact made by the product rather than the singer. Yet there's something to be said for the insidious imprinting effect of an unforgettably seductive voice like Kathryn Rose's. The local club diva is about to release the third video from her My Little Flame album, but you likely know her better from her purring I've Got You Under My Skin for the Milk campaign and the "Just imagine" bit for Lotto 649. And who can forget her reminder that You've Always Got Time For Tim Hortons? Sweet.

best anti-diva
Graph Nobel

A 4-foot-nothing tornado onstage, with the attitude to match, soul shouter Graph Nobel is anything but subtle. An ability to match fluid rhyming with Betty Davis-inspired R&B growls sets her apart from the rest of the Toronto soul set, but it's through her devastating live sets that Graph has made the most noise. A series of spring showcases saw A&R suits standing on tables to get a peek, and Graph responding to the attention with a saucy tease to the men in the house. If she can recreate even a shred of that energy on record, look out!

best used record store
Ric Collectibles

Yes, at the corner of Main and Gerrard Ric's is a bit off the beaten track, but that's a big reason why it's now the best place in the city to score cool second-hand vinyl. With little daily pedestrian traffic, Ric doesn't get great records by sitting on his ass hoping they'll appear; he actively seeks them out. And as long as he keeps digging up those obscure treasures and stickering them well below eBay prices, sussed vinyl addicts like DJ Cliffy and Matt Dillon will keep coming back for more. 155 Main, 416-690-6399

best reason to keep your turntable
Play de Record

Sure, they stack a few CDs, but the real reason why every one of the city's top DJs keeps a private pile behind the counter at Play De Record is the vinyl. The city's top spot for hiphop, house, R&B, soul jazz and jungle actually got better when Nav and Jason Palma of the Movement massive took over. Cleaning up the racks and broadening the stock has only made Play De more of a vinyl junkies' paradise and perhaps the only place in the city where you can score a Mariah Carey 12-inch, an Elephant Man 7 and a rare Jorge Ben album in one stop. 357-A Yonge, 416 586-0380

best place to hear music on the radio
Higher Ground

In the commercial radio wasteland, Jason Palma's Higher Ground show is welcome relief. The closest domestic equivalent to Gilles Peterson's genre-busting BBC show, Worldwide, Higher Ground covers all aspects of jazz and soul-inspired music, from Brazilian beats and house jams to obscure Finnish fusion, with Palma's notoriously deep crates providing the inspiration. No fancy mixing or annoying chat, just loads of stoopidly funky tunes that will have you scrambling for a pen and paper to write down the names. CIUT 89.5 FM, Thursdays 8-10 pm

photo by STEVE PAYNE best unsigned artist D-Sisive Being contractually chained to a creepy mega-corporation is a fate we wouldn't wish on anyone, but it defies logic that savvy Canuck label executives haven't yet seen the enormous money-making potential in the knucklehead genius of T-dot hiphop hustler D-Sisive and locked him into a long-term deal. Maybe the rapping stand-up should just sidestep the whole music biz flim-flam and launch his own television variety show.

best-sounding live music venue
The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

An institution on the Queen West strip, the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, having played host to everyone from Hank Williams Sr. to Suicide, has had more than a half-century to work out the sound system kinks. It's probably not the ideal room for a string quartet recital, but for loud guitars and noisy crowds nothing fits like the 'Shoe. 370 Queen West, 416-598-4753

best record store
Rotate This

So what if HMV is the biggest and has a one-way escalator? Rotate This boasts an infinitely hipper selection of hiphop, jazz, funk, reggae, punk and electronic music and a switched-on staff. Perhaps most important of all, Rotate This regularly stocks those great independent recordings by important artists that you won't find at the big chain stores. Remember that when you're looking for the great new Broken Social Scene disc. 620 Queen West, 416-504-8447

best live music venue
Phoenix Concert Theatre

The Horseshoe may have a more welcoming ambience and the Rivoli is cozy, but the Phoenix, with its excellent sightlines, fantastic sound system, roomy stage built high enough so you can actually see the performers, seating upstairs and well-stocked bars in each corner, is still the best place in town to see a band play. 410 Sherbourne, 416-323-1251

best-sounding dance club
The Guvernment

When the Guvernment first installed it's famed Steve Dash-designed Phazon sound system, it was considered one of the best in the world, in a class with super-clubs like England's Cream and New York's Twilo, also equipped with Phazon systems. Now that Cream and Twilo have both shut down, the Guvernment has even fewer competitors, and none in Toronto. Recently refurbished and tuned up, the main room of the Guvernment sounds like a dance club should - earth-shaking bass and crisp, clean highs and mids, without inducing ear-ringing or throbbing headaches. 132 Queen's Quay East, 416-869-0045

photo by KATHRYN GAITENS best hiphop mc K-OS After years of false starts, failed deals and endless recording, the overdue debut by Whitby MC K-OS marked a welcome change in a domestic hiphop industry dominated by copycats. Schooled in the abstract ways of Q-Tip and Mos Def but also raised on Echo and the Bunnymen, K-OS's thoughtful approach to hiphop balances boasting with a roots-reggae-inspired consciousness. Whether he's rhyming over a flamenco beat, singing a soul ballad or rocking out inna Radiohead style, K-OS sounds like no one else. In hiphop, that's as fresh as it gets.

best dance night promoter
Hot Stepper Productions

Carlos and Pedro Mondesir, the brothers behind Hot Stepper, Garage 416 and Bump N' Hustle, have continued throwing quality events that draw a refined but very diverse crowd. The past year has been a tough one for many promoters, but Hot Stepper continue to pack the house and book some of the most interesting DJs and performers in the business. With one foot in the history of the music and the other stepping toward the future, Hot Stepper have helped define what mature partying is all about. www.hot-stepper.com

best dj to get your date in the mood
Son of S.O.U.L.

Whereas many DJs play for the heads, Son of S.O.U.L. has his sights set on moving your ass. His sexy and funky sets of soul, funk and hiphop have probably kick-started more breakdancers' relationships than anybody else's. He also frequently outshines the headliners with whom he's billed. Reminiscent of the proto-hiphop style of party-rocking greats like Kool Herc or Grandmaster Flash, Son of S.O.U.L. knows how to coax a crowd into shedding their inhibitions and getting down.

best-named promoters
Fukhouse

The cheeky handle immediately identified Fukhouse as the antidote to the house overload on the local club scene. Defining a middle ground between deeply underground chin-stroking techno and big-club hedonism, the Fukhouse logo is always a good indicator of a quality techno party. After a brief hiatus, Fukhouse was revived at System Soundbar and stands poised to take Toronto's techno scene boldly into the future. www.fukhouse.ca

most effective evil-genius sponsor
Benson & Hedges (Gold Club)

The party scene is still split over the corporate sponsorship issue. Some are thankful for the incredible big-name DJs whom Gold Club's money has helped bring in at reasonable ticket prices, while others claim that the astronomical DJ fees that Benson & Hedges throws around and the loss it's willing to take in order to fill its events is unfair competition for promoters doing it out of their own pockets. While cigarette companies may not be allowed to engage in such in-your-face advertising much longer, it appears that B&H's Gold Club campaign has been effective - you see more and more dance club patrons making B&H their coffin nails of choice.

photo by BENJAMIN BOLES best club dj Kenny Glasgow Very few local selectors inspire the fan devotion that Kenny Glasgow does. It's not unusual for partiers to be oblivious to the international celebrity spinners while they wait for him to play one of his famous late-night closing sets. Flawless mixing, creative track selection and heaps of charisma have put him in the unique position of being popular with the kids and respected by the heads.

best record store for pretending you're in the movie High Fidelity
Soundscapes

With its tasteful top-10 lists hanging on the walls and exceptionally cool and diverse CD selection, you almost expect to see John Cusack behind the counter. The comfortable vibe and of-the-moment soundtrack are great, and the nifty new rolling wood shelves are an added architectural bonus. Plus they have awesome in-store performances (Badly Drawn Boy packed 'em in recently) and a knowledgeable staff who can give you the scoop on what's goin' on beneath the musical radar. 572 College, 416-537-1620

wackiest live performance
The Hidden Cameras

Any Hidden Cameras show puts the lie to the fallacy that jaded Torontonians don't dance. Their admirable attempts at squeezing 30 random performers onto stages around this city must be seen to be believed. And if the half-nekkid dancing go-go boys, cheerleaders, masked charioteers and dance instructors are the icing on the proverbial cheesecake, the ecclesiastical-meets-homo-kitsch art installations (penis pennants, anyone?) and lyrics projected on an overhead are the cherry on top. Add gorgeously lush queer orchestral hymns played by a killer rotating ensemble, and it's impossible not to get off your ass.

best day job for a musician
Jack Breakfast

Sweet singer-songwriter Jack Breakfast just moonlights as a Lou-Reed-meets-Lloyd-Dobler troubadour telling fantastic stories about imaginary girls who broke his heart and covert cigarettes shared as part of an Eglinton West wannabe gang. By day, Breakfast is a self-proclaimed book sleuth, trolling used bookstores and thrift shops in search of impossibly rare copies of coveted classics to flip. His biggest score? A first edition of William Goldman's fairy-tale spoof The Princess Bride, which he picked up for a buck at Value Village and later sold for $700.

best busker
Hamid Shaqq

Uniqueness counts for a lot in busking, and Hamid Shaqq, the subway system's steel pan man, has a clear edge on the guitar-strumming competition. Whether he's plinking out Bob Marley favourites at Broadview station or stopping traffic at Bloor by gamely knocking out a request for Stairway To Heaven, Shaqq brings a summery vibe to the underground. Even Cat Stevens tunes are bearable when they're ringing out from Shaqq's steel pans.