TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
This album is going to be on top of alot people's top lists.  It really is that good.  Much more solid effort this time around.  Probably the best sophmore album I can remember listening to off the top of my head (YYY's Show Your Bones was also really great!).  You can hear all of the potential from Desperate Youth and their debut EP come together.  Great energy from start to finish and great as an overall album.  Seems to be miles away from any rock release in 2006.  Recommended to be played loud!

 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
I really killed this album when it first leaked.  Karen O and company make another great record and prove they are deserving of all the hype.  Though less aggressive and more polished overall than the last album, they still manage to keep their sound.  I saw them play this year at Kool Haus and they were amazing.  It's the second time that I've seen them. 

 Hot Chip - The Warning
From first impressions, these guys just look like a couple of really nerdy dudes.  You wouldn't suspect that they have it in them to rock out as hard as they do, but they always seem to put on a really tight set.   I first heard them at Lollapalooza and then checked them out again later when they came by Lee's Palace in Toronto.  Their sound is like two-parts New Order plus one-part Gorillaz-era Damon Albarn.  This is a good gateway band for people who aren't heavy into electronic music, but I think even most long-time electronic music listeners would enjoy also.

 Cut Copy - Fabriclive 29
It's a rare moment to listen to an album will little expectation and then be totally floored by it!  I had previously never heard of Cut Copy before and stumbled onto it just because there were some Fabric mixes in the past that I had enjoyed.  Wow.  There's this great dance-retro-electronic vibe to this whole mix.  You'll find it hard not to stamp your feet, drum your hands on something.  I would also recommend their last release of original material Bright Like Neon Love released in 2004.

 Shearwater - Palo Santo
The release of Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy made me a big fan any material associated with Will Sheff, the creative frontman and vocalist for Okkervil River.  Shearwater has generally been known as a way for OR to release b-sides but has since changed into it's own band with it's own sound.  On this album however, composition and vocal duties have been taken over by OR bandmate, Jonathan Meiburg.  Much less visceral and more sombre than the River, it shares alot of the same mood and emotion that makes the River so great.  Listening to this album is a nice alternative to crying by yourself in the shower late at night.

 Ratatat - Classics
This is the third electronic-rock type album I've listed.  Fans of the original S/T album will enjoy this.  This is the kind of stuff I'd like to play in multiplayer expert mode on in Guitar Hero for PS2.  Growl!  Rawr!  Rawk!

 Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Over the last few years, I've been listening to alot of Dylan.  He's got alot of press lately with the Scorsese biopic and I think it's good for people to realize how great his music is.  Whether it's hip or not to like Dylan, you cannot deny his genius.  Though I don't think this is the album to win over new fans, it's another great addition to the already amazing Dylan catalog.

 Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
Pulp is one of my all-time favourite bands.  Most casual listeners will recognize them from either the singles 'Common People' or 'Disco 2000' from 1996's Different Class.  (Really, they are so much more than that.  If you aren't already a fan, you should really give the rest of their material a shot.) 
This is the solo-debut of the infamous frontman of Pulp, Jarvis Cocker.  I would describe this album as being exactly as you'd imagine a solo album from Jarvis Cocker.  It's fearless, dark, and brutally honest without ever sounding contrived.  To me, it sounds like a combination mostly of This is Hardcore with bits and pieces of every other Pulp album.

 The Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
This is a really great british guitar pop album that has been highly anticipated since the release of their EP last year.  Produced by Steve Mackey of Pulp, whom are also from Sheffield.  File this album under fun and listenable grrl rawk.

 Futureheads - News and Tributes
Another fun record.  I actually like this album better than their debut at this point.  I came back to this album after hearing the some singles from some other compilations I had playing.  I found that I enjoyed it much more after having come back to it.

 The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity
On first listen, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with this album.  As a fan, expectations are always high at the prospect of a new Cardigans album.  After a few listens though, it all seemed to make sense, and I can't even remember what I didn't like about it in the first place.  I just really love the sound Nina Persson's voice.  Their previous album, Long Gone Before Midnight took a while for me to regard it in the same league as Gran Turismo, and this one is very much the same.  There's some real intimate tracks as well as some edgy guitar tracks.  A really good album for fans, but I don't think it's the type of album to find a new audience.  This one's definitely a grower.

 Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
I only got to listen to this album a few weeks ago and have only listened to it many more times at this point, but it is immediately evident on the first listen how great this album is.  Easily one of the best albums of this year!

 Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours to Keep
I've heard alot of people mention their love for this album this year.  There's alot of good things to like on this album.  Most fans of the Strokes will find songs that they like, and it's varied enough to see that he has his own take on things.  Overall, however, his influence on the sound and riffs for the Strokes is very evident.  Very solid for a debut solo effort. 

 Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Another classic album for Radiohead fans.  Alot of this album resembles a Kid-A era Radiohead but I find it to be much more accessible for casual listening.  Dark electronic music perfect for a night-time commute.

 Jim Noir - Tower of Love
Tower of Love is a sort of strange pop album that will probably slip under the radar for most people.  It's mellow, simple, and lo-fi but doesn't really sound like anything that you'd hear nowadays fitting that description.  It's been likened to Beach Boys era Brian Wilson which I totally agree with.  If you didn't know that this just came out this year, it would be easy to mistaken it for 30 years ago.  Simply timeless pop.

 DJ Neil Armstrong - Oscillate Wildly
I have a pair of turntables that I keep in the basement that I've intended on trying to learn for several months now.  So far I haven't made the time to be able to learn it very well -- it's pretty sad.  I've always wanted to mix soul, funk, and hip hop or 80s retro pop with new wave.  If I were to make a 80s retro / new wave mix, I'd want to make this album.  There is a stretch of about 10-12 songs on this album where it seems like it can't be bettered.  There's one euro-freestyle song which I usually skip but apart from that I haven't heard a mix of this kind that even comes close.  If you ever hear this album, you really ought to check out DJNA's older mixes, they're all very good and are in many different genres.