Everything starts with an E
Feb. 17th, 2004 10:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaLast 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.
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.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-02-18 05:22 am (UTC)Named artists are sorted by surname. Fake titles don't count as names, so Dr. John is under D. I don't have anything by Andrew WK, but I'd probably put him under A on grounds that WK is not a surname. Rob Zombie I'm still debating - whatever I do he won't be next to White Zombie, so it doesn't really matter.
"X and the Ys" are filed under X, by surname if appropriate, unless I have other items by the same outfit under just the bandname, in which case they're moved. So the Bad Seeds are under C. Your Blondie example would be under B because they're also billed as Blondie.
I declare that there is no such thing as naming a band with the name of one person in it. So there is no means by which PJ Harvey can define herself to be in a band named "PJ Harvey" and thereby move herself to P. But if a band named itself after someone not in it, they wouldn't be sorted by the surname of that person.
Iggy Pop is currently under I, not necessarily for any good reason.
Classical music is by composer, unless the album is released under the name of some superstar soloist. Superstar orchestras don't count for this.
Soundtracks are sorted under the artist's name if its the work of a single artist (so Birdy is under G, Bladerunner is under V, Young Guns II is under B), or otherwise in their own section by name of film (so I'm guessing Young Guns would be under Y).
Compilations are dumped in a muddle at the end, with serial compilations (like Chilled Ibiza I and II) collected.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 05:29 am (UTC)I understood Inskauldrak to be saying that sometimes a band consisting of PJH and others went by the name of PJ Harvey. I filed Helen Love under H for this reason - despite HL being an individual, I believe HL is also the name of the band which she fronts.
Your system sounds reasonable, and in fact broadly what I was doing. Except with more justification and less "because it seemed like a good idea".
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 06:09 am (UTC)That's what I understood too, but I'm taking the postmodern approach that the name is a property of my reading of the work, not an objective property of the artist. And in this case I'm not going to let pretentious musical types deliberately mess around with my alphabetisation.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 08:42 am (UTC)I'd say that was quite common, but when it happens you'd sort your collection by the name, as it still is a name. Usually it happens when there is one very prominent member of the band. For example, David Bowie has a band which he uses for all his current recordings and performances, but it's a band never-the-less, not just him and whichever musicians he can find on the day. And to group "current" David Bowie with, say, seventies Bowie is fine (and what I'd do), but would leave you wondering whether you should group, say The Move and Wizzard together or separately, because you could say these are just different incarnations of the Roy Wood band.
The ones to watch out for are the ones you think are names, but are not: Matt Bianco, Marshall Hain, Don Pablo's Animals etc.
My reference for these matters is what the Guinness books do, but even they have some interesting examples when you could argue either case. For example, Little Richard is listed under "Little" but Fats Domino is listed under "Domino". Similarly inconsistent is Dr Feelgood (Doctor), Major Harris (Harris) and Lord Rockingham's XI (Lord).
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 08:52 am (UTC)Then you have cases where an artist has collaborated with another. Is a Pet Shop Boys album with a Dusty Springfield and the Pet Shop Boys track on it a compilation album?
Another annoyingly difficult one is the Grease Sountrack. It's a compilation album, a soundtrack album and credited to John Travolta and Olivia Newton John on the cover.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 08:57 am (UTC)Admittedly, this might be rather more difficult if the rest of your family have to live with your indexing policy as well. Since it's all autogenerated on a 'puter, though, you can easily set up each family member's indexing preferences. Bob is your mother's brother.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 09:27 am (UTC)In my scheme:
Tubeway Army / Gary Numan
N.
Is a Pet Shop Boys album with a Dusty Springfield and the Pet Shop Boys track on it a compilation album?
No.
It's a compilation album, a soundtrack album and credited to John Travolta and Olivia Newton John on the cover
It's not a compilation, because soundtracks never are (they're either "albums" or else "other soundtracks").
I'd put it under "T" if almost all tracks really are sung by those two (or maybe "N" if I had any other Olivia Newton-John albums) and "other soundtracks/G" otherwise.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-18 09:50 am (UTC)I don't differentiate between compilations and soundtracks, but if I did I'd have a further problem with soundtracks-which-are-really-just-compilations (ie no original material for the film) such as Trainspotting. And even more problem with compilations that have the name of a film, but are nothing to do with the film at all, such as Trainspotting 2.