So it was with me in my role as the host of a community radio program, until I started getting calls from listener-sponsors asking for recommendations for recordings I found to be of personal interest. In some cases, they wanted gift ideas for "their cool weird friends," and in other cases, people asked them what they wanted.
Scary as it may be to go out on such a critical limb (although, to be fair, I'm just making a set of arbitrary judgements based on having listened to and broadcast a whole lot of music during the last calendar year on RTQE) and post things before I'd had a chance to look around at what all the cool kids were lining up behind, I decided to start doing my "Best of the Year" shows during the early part of December as a service to listeners. Somehow, the list developed a margin of error such that it wound up being fifteen recordings.
From a programming standpoint, it's enjoyable - one is always guaranteed two programs per year that are devoid of filler, as a personal matter. And, if the calls that come in during the program are anything to go by, people actually seem to appreciate it.
The official web page listing my not-quite-top-ten for the year is here.
