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: 2004-02-17 03:24 am (UTC)Also, I passed my 'Eyes of Alice Cooper' Album onto your velvet housemate - so it should be somewhere in your house, if not already in your possession.
Re: The letter S.
Date: 2004-02-17 03:29 am (UTC)Why this might be escapes me.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 03:31 am (UTC)The man is obviously ill! The shiny things will be screaming in sleevenoteless agony.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 03:33 am (UTC)My most common letter is M.
And I agree about the CD wallet idea - that's heathenish. It's also at least part of the reason why I don't copy or download music.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 03:38 am (UTC)Thanks for the Alice Cooper - I shall query said velvety entity and demand its immediate presentation.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 03:40 am (UTC)Singles I've kept separately, too, regardless of size-of-case. I was aiming for ease of location of required disc, not logic and rationalness :)
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 03:40 am (UTC)I also found a St Eve single which is something to do with you - can you remind me whether it was a freebie you passed on, or a loan I was meant to give back, please ?
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 03:45 am (UTC)Actually, that's not a bad justification for it. I may steal it :)
Not that I actually own any tribute albums, I don't think.
CD Wallets
Date: 2004-02-17 03:51 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 04:06 am (UTC)My videos used to be alphabetical, but I keep them in genre now (or did when they weren't packed up) so if I was after a chick flick I could compare all I had and then pick the one I wanted, without feeling I might've missed something. Not sure it'd work with cd's, but I do have my jazz and blues and classical stuff seperated from my indie-shite :)
no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 04:10 am (UTC)Having differing names for exactly the same band is awkward: favour the one you have most of, I guess.
Compilations go separately, listed by compilation title.
But this is hardly anal, oh no. Next stage is to look at all the CDs cluttering up your room and decide you want (a) any arbitrary orderings you chose - _simulataneoulsy_, and (b) all that space back. The point I became officially anal was when I put all of these CDs on a server, catalogued them all and generated millions of playlists based on various different criteria (original CD, tracks by artist, tracks by name, chronological order, etc, plus any old playlist I choose to make up). I haven't scanned the artwork and notes yet - perhaps I should! Anyway - the less commonly listened to CDs are now in boxes in the loft to make some space, and the entire collection can be accessed anywhere in the house.
But I should probably have got out more.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 04:18 am (UTC)Well, that's less Wrong, but it's still a bit... you know... dubious.
As you're probably aware, I'm slowly managing to stick my entire CD collection on my harddrive at work, but that's very definitely an as-well, not an instead-of. And it saves me carting CDs backwards and forwards every day to listen to while I'm here.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 04:24 am (UTC)O and Q both have only one CD in them (Carmina Burana, by Orff, and Plenty, by Quicksilver.)
U and Z both have only two (Ultrasound and Unbelivable Truth, Zombina & The Skeletones and Rob Zombie. Admittedly I have exacerbated this by filing the two Union discs under B; they were singles anyway.)
I own no CDs recorded by an artist beginning with X.
Re: The letter S.
Date: 2004-02-17 04:26 am (UTC)I knew someone who made a similar claim but about the letter B... despite this being both statistically unlikely and patently absurd.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 04:31 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 04:33 am (UTC)"There is a correlation between wet dreams about church burning, and the use of unlikely initial letters like U,V,Q,X and Z."
Discuss.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 04:47 am (UTC)Then you own no CDs by X-Ray Spex. You really ought to.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 04:50 am (UTC)I'll check tha tI haven't got a copy at home though.
Re: The letter S.
Date: 2004-02-17 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 05:00 am (UTC)The upside- when one runs out of room I buy another for that genre. Also no-one who steals them would be able to sell them on easily without the covers.
The downside- I have the back of the CD case slips in a box at the back of the cupboard "just in case" I decide to go back to cases, but some CDs don't have a track listing on the CD itself or the front slipbook.
Good luck!
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 05:03 am (UTC)Just to complicate things...
Date: 2004-02-17 05:04 am (UTC)I agree on the sleevnotes front btw!
Re:
Date: 2004-02-17 05:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-17 05:15 am (UTC)