After going through the “Philby Hot 100 Songs of 2018” list, if you are a follower of The Philbys, you know that we’re only halfway through the awards.
The “Philby Best Albums of 2018” are up next!
I actually work on the list year round so I listen to everything that I come across with the idea that I may want to add it to one of my year end lists.
I truly wish that every track I ever listened to was wonderful. However, and I’m sure I would get close to 100% consensus on this, that could never happen.
But I do give anything I listen to a chance. I don’t just listen to a couple of songs or snippets.
I don’t expect the best tracks to be first. Sometimes there are hidden gems like a cool instrumental track or two that may have been overlooked because I didn’t care for the vocal style of the singer.
The time frame of the annual list is the year of 2018 but that’s only for the title of the list.
For this year’s assortment, I have selections from at least 2015-2018.
The idea is that many items by artists are not always distributed in a timely manner. Everybody doesn’t use a promoter. Everybody doesn’t necessarily know how to get their music out. They may even sit on it for a couple of years because they may feel self conscious about it, or may not be confident enough to “bare their soul” with the music world, or have the funds to share it.
This year, it looks like a few artists may have more than one entry on the list or an album that is older than a previous winner.
The reason for this is just like the reasons mentioned beforehand, as well as my own personal idiosyncrasies. When I wasn’t doing radio and I ran across an artist I like, I always went looking for their back catalog if they had any. For The Philbys, I will limit this to one item if it’s within a reasonable time frame to the years I’m allowing.
Since I am including a wide span of years, I have stated before that I will often overlook newer albums to recognize older albums that will be losing eligibility. That doesn’t mean that the newer album will be forgotten. That just means that it will more than likely show up on a future list. That’s why the time frame is so wide.
Next year the sliding scale will be from 2016—2019.
I am always working at refining my process.
The Philbys are all about brilliant musical achievement and recognition! It’s not about putting a list together for albums that are only from a specific year—which I can do but choose not to. The Philbys are about recognizing the wonderful music that I personally appreciated as I encountered it and played at least one track from the album on one of my two radio shows:
“Prime Time Theme Attic” (Mondays, 8P-10P ET) and
“Theme Attic” (Wednesdays, 10A-12N ET)
Here’s a link:
https://whfr.fm/streamer/
I figure that an artist will be happy to be praised in a year that is different from the year an album is released much the same as if I did it during the same year as everyone else.
No one is ever disappointed with an honest compliment!
The Philbys were also invented to breathe some life into the late fall and early winter seasons. I used to do many shows about cold and snow and wind. For months!
Now I get to spread love and sunshine into a bleak time of the year!
After The Philbys is the Winter New Music Showcase of 2019. By then winter is heading into February and spring isn’t far behind. Musically, it’s all a happier place for me.
I’m not bragging, just stating a fact, but several artists over the years have told me privately, that my endorsement for their music have spurred them on to continuing to make music when they wondered whether it was worth it. Many other artists that I have played and/or interviewed have been able to make a move to where music is their only career.
My part in those situations may have been infinitesimally small, but I am honored to be a part of it, and like to spread the love!
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