THE YEAR IN MUSIC: Audra Schroeder was charged with a tough task – wrap up the year in local music. That’s hard enough to begin with. But when coupled with the fact that she’s only been in town as the Observer‘s new music editor for about a month, it seems impossible. So she did what any smart person would do – ask others who’ve been around what they liked. A host of musicians, venue operators and record label types serve as your guides for the Observer‘s year-end breakdown.

THE YEAR IN VISUAL ARTS: “A look at the best art museum exhibits of 2011 suggests that Fort Worth and Dallas institutions synchronized their calendars to provide an uninterrupted string of great shows.” That’s how Gaile Robinson begins her year-end visual arts wrap for dfw.com. And she also takes a different approach. Rather than break things down Top-10 style, she works through the year chronologically, touching on the most important events.

LISTEN UP: You might be familiar with Fort Worth’s John Zaskoda as a blues guitar player. But increasingly, the public is getting to know him for something completely different. Three days a week, he hosts an Internet radio show called Stranger Advice. Topics include eveything from government conspiracies to metaphysics to UFOs. He talks about how his accidental talk show got started and where he plans to take it in the cover story for the current Fort Worth Weekly.