A few days are left before 2007 is ushered in, and with it, lots of new albums. This year was a strange one indeed as artists like the Streets, the Strokes and the Flaming Lips who are known for solid albums, well, failed to deliver.

As with every year, 06 opened our ears to loads of new talent like Annuals, Lily Allen and Girl Talk.

From the sounds of early albums leaks, 2007 looks like it will easily be one of the best years for music. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Now, out of all of the music I listened to this year, here’s what stuck out as the 15 best releases of 2006.

Ariel Pink’s latest side-project is certainly a grower. It took me about 6 listens before I could appreciate the album. For those of you who pick it up, be warned. Pink’s one to never really care about digital mastering, so song quality ranges from tolerable to craptacaular. One cool thing that can be said of this mastering technique is that the entire album sounds like a mixtape of demos from your friend’s favorite local bands.

Holy Shit: Tokyo Gamblers

Six Demon Bag is just that: a tortured album that sounds like it was recorded with six different personalities. Styles are spastic and fleeting, and oddity runs amok throughout Bag, but somehow, it’s all good.

Man Man: Ice Dogs

A little band I first wrote about in Totally Twee Tuesdays, Arrah and the Ferns debut is a real charmer. Their little twee-pop jingles just got better and better each time I listened. Plus, it’s pretty hard to beat the pairing of a banjo and lyrics about a MySpace emo-ster.

Arrah and the Ferns: Emo Phillips

Math and Physics Club is an acoustic pop album with some emotion behind it. It started out with me listening to this album in the evenings to wind down, and eventually turned into it becoming one of my favorites of 06.

Math and Physics Club: Darling, Please Come Home

Bat For Lashes’ Fur and Gold is a pretty neat little album that’s meant to be listened to from dusk til dawn. It starts out at dusk on the edge of a forest and with a quest. During our journey through said forest, we encounter magic, foxfire and enchanted creatures which give the album a supernatural atmosphere.

Bat For Lashes: Horse and I

British soulstress lends her unique voice over 50s and 60s Motown beats to make one hell of an R&B album.

Amy Winehouse: Rehab

Lily Allen’s debut is brash, cool, playful breathe of fresh air in the watered-down pop world. Alright, Still is the beacon of hope that talent still exists.

Lily Allen: LDN

TV on the Radio’s Return To Cookie Mountain is like nothing you’ve ever heard. It’s an extremely complex and sophisticated rock album that throws in everything, including the kitchen sink, into its sound.

TV on the Radio: Wolf Like Me

One of my favorites because I can’t pinpoint exactly what the heck it is. Electro? Dance? Pop? Tribal? World Music? Whatever it is, it’s wickedly delightful and dark. And oh-so danceable.

The Knife: We Share Our Mother’s Health

The first few times I listened to The Crane Wife, I was pretty sure it would be my favorite album of 06. While I now see it’s flaws more so than before, it’s still a beautiful journey through lands filled with scoundrels, baby-butchers and magic. Easily the Decemberists best effort.

The Decemberists: The Crane Wife III

I don’t think there’s a CD that I’ve listened to more this year than Girl Talk’s Night Ripper. Not only is it one of the most important releases of our time — it combines more than 150 sampled sources without permission and mashes those old songs together to create new ones — it’s also one of the coolest and most fun.

Girl Talk: Bounce That

From the moment I listened to the November 05 leak, I knew this would be one of my favorites for 06. Chan Marshall’s songwriting and musicianship go unmatched on this one.

Cat Power: Love & Communication

Even I am surprised at how high I rated Singer. But after giving it much thought, it really goes unrivaled as one of this year’s best because of how simple it is and enjoyable it. It’s not life-changing, but it is heart-warming twee-pop.

The Besties: Pirate Song

If it’s possible to fall in love with an album, Boys and Girls in America would be it for me. Hands-down some of the finest songwriting and stories to appear in music this decade.

The Hold Steady: Stuck Between Stations

I pretty much already said everything I wanted to say about Ys here. If you haven’t read it, I’ll save you the time by saying this: It’s magical. It’s captivating. It’s a very rewarding listen. It’s a modern-day masterpiece.

Joanna Newsom: Emily

Biggest disappointment of 2006 goes to

When I first read about Swan Lake I was estatic. An indie supergroup comprised of Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes), Daniel Bejar (Destroyer and the New Pornographers) and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown) was every audio junkie’s wet dream. Their lead single “All Fires” brought even more hype and with it expectations that Beast Moans just may be the best album of the year. I mean c’mon, just look at the lineup. Maybe it was the rough production (Beast Moans was meant to sound like a live recording from the Daytrotter Sessions) or the fact that there just wasn’t anything as immediately accessible as “All Fires,” but Swan Lake disappointed on colossal levels. The album sounded like a rushed jam session, in which arrangements just wondered aimlessly under the muddy production. I have yet to make it through the album in just one sitting.

Swan Lake: All Fires