venta

Last night I finally got round to it: I put my CDs into alphabetical order. I've resisted for a long time, but fundamentally, I couldn't find things any more.

It's not too bad: I didn't religiously order my CDs within artists. They're in approximate release order, but only so far as I could manage it without checking the dates. And compilations are at present all jumbled together, as I went to bed before doing anything other than bunging them on the shelves.

I may yet alter my policy, as at present all styles are mixed up together. Not a problem, in general, but it does mean I've filed Classical by composer, while everything else is filed by artist. And of course, it's common to find CDs with the works of more than one composer on. I've not yet come up with a good solution to this; suggestions welcome.

And yes, there were the standard problems: Does the best of Debbie Harry and Blondie go under B or H ? Do 4ft Fingers go under F, or in a numbers section before A ? I decided there was only one solution to this: it's my collection, I'll put them where I'd look for them. Andy accused me of being girly and irrational about some of my decisions - notably putting Dr John under D, and Andrew WK under A. I did resist the unjustifiable urge to file PJ Harvey under P, though.

I can also report (unsurprisingly) that I buy more albums recorded by artists whose names begin with S than any other letter. The C pile was the same height, but contained slightly fewer albums, owing to Nick Cave's habit of putting albums in big fat cardboard covers.

Incidentally: does anyone have my copy of D.U.S.T's From The Sublime To The Obscene ?

In recent weeks I've had the same conversation, independently, with a series of people. Numerous helpful souls have suggested that I buy some CD wallets, ditch the CD jewel cases, and save space that way. Today, someone went one step further, suggesting spindle-style CD cases, and throwing away the sleevenotes altogether (which is what he has done).

This is Just Wrong. It is, in fact, so Wrong as to have gone way past Wrong and into Criminal. Once a CD is out of its case, the music leaks out and sloshes about everywhere, and (particularly without sleevenotes) becomes all unidentifiable.

Yes, I appreciate that it's a space-saving policy. In the same way that ripping the hardcovers off books, or aputating your housemates' limbs is a space-saving policy. I can't believe I appear to be the only person who's realised this.