The Grammys have had their say, and to no one's surprise they mostly got the year in music wrong. The BC Magazine music editors have come together to help get you headed in the right direction. Ignore the Grammys, buy these records instead!

Josh Hathaway: Peter Karp - Shadows and Cracks

This is probably the least suspense-filled choice of the entire group because I announced my choice when I interviewed the man behind it on the B-Sides Concept Album program for BlogTalk Radio. What can I say about this album that I haven't said before throughout the past year (BC Magazine review/Fanboy)? Plenty!

Shadows and Cracks is such a versatile record that it's impossible not to love. This is the album you start with tomorrow when you get showered in gift cards by all the people in your life. Karp has crafted a record that blends influences and styles with songwriting good enough to stand next to Dylan, Dixon, Lennon, Waits, Prine, and Hiatt.

It's high praise, but I mean every word of it. Consider this: everyone I've turned on to this album has liked it. You will, too. Essential is not a strong enough word. Fuckin' well mandatory comes closest.

Connie Phillips: Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full

It's not a well kept secret. There's a special place in my heart for pop music and another corner reserved for anything retro. Memory Almost Full, released June 4, isn’t what I'd call a throwback, not in the least. It did, however, have some very familiar threads running through it. Like an evening with an old friend, or a cozy sweater, it felt warm and familiar. These songs came from the same place inside McCartney his earlier tunes with The Beatles and Wings did and six months later, I still pop the CD in, or call it up on the iPod.

When the CD was released in June, I wrote a sneak peek article and much of what I said then still holds true. From the light airy feel of "Dance Tonight" and "That Was Me" to the more surreal "The End of The End" and "Feet in the Clouds," the album has remained a staple in my collection.