2006 has been a damn good year for new records from the world’s favorite indie-rock icons. In March, we can add Mogwai to the list with their first studio album since 2003’s Happy Music For Happy People.

It’s been a longstanding tradition in the post-punk music world for members of not-so-hard sounding bands to form side projects that throw their hands up to the heavy music that has influenced many an indie-rock musician. Sometimes this leads to poorly executed metal bands that ultimately mock the genre that the bands are trying to pay tribute to. Fortunately, this is not the case with Witch.

Bad Wizard is the greatest contemporary rock and roll band that no one is talking about. If you take the stage presence and energy of the Tight Bros From Way Back When, fuse it with a band that takes itself completely serious in its quest for big, loud stadium rock and threw in the best absolute influences like Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Guns ‘N’ Roses, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, you’d have Bad Wizard.

AIDS Wolf are a noise outfit out of Montreal, and I am gonna say right off the bat, I just don’t get it. Mostly squawking guitars, repetitive intricate bass lines, breakbeat drumming, and a howling chick add up to something kinda vaguely cool to me, but nothing I am gonna shit my pants over.

Eloquence and sunshine swirls about in the latest from the cherubic Scottish outfit. Like water off a duck’s back, the miseries of the world are repelled by The Life Pursuit, a plucky foray into Burt Bacharach territory.

Much like their name suggests, The Postmarks‘ debut disc is the stuff of lost love letters, perfume-soaked postcards, and twenty-something hopefulness. It’s downright infectious.

It would almost be too easy to compare Notes to Fugazi’s 13 Songs, except for the fact that its not nearly as good. The album starts off with a cool little noisy bit called “Tinnitus” before diving headfirst into “post hardcore.” I am not even sure if I know what that means except for it usually sounds a lot like Fugazi.

The Advantage, the world’s finest Nintendo cover band (no offense obscure electronic outfit Kraftkäse), are back again with another jam-packed full-length of eight-bit soundtrack romps. The guitar/guitar/bass/drums arrangement does the original tunes more justice than one would imagine, and man, does it rock.

Hailing from the West Coast, singer Goapele (gop-pah-lay) arrives with her second full-length release, Change It All. Combining a unique voice and musical dexterity, Goapele carves her own niche into contemporary music.

I first learned about the little-known magic that Jens Lekman makes during an interview with some adorable local Boston heroes known as Pants Yell! Slipping into Jens Lekman’s world was like climbing into a warm bath after a long day.

The best thing I can say about Latterman is that they sound like a watered-down punk version of Jawbreaker’s Unfun. This album was originally released in 2002, and since then has been out of print until the fellas decided to re-release it.

It’s been two years since Sicbay’s last release, and one has to wonder exactly what happened in that time period that would result in such a mellowing out of their sound. Forget about the Nick Sakes of Dazzling Killmen, much less Colossamite, this is a new, calmer animal.