I've got a dilemma with my record collection I think--it's too diverse. Normally, that's a strength, right? But last night as I was adding a new stack to the shelves--swapping out the generic inner sleeves for pristine new ones then slapping on the poly sleeves--I was thinking I've got a problem. And it's a problem with mixing genres, I think. Last night's stack consisted of some Ozzy records, and some Rush records...The Hollies, Neil Young, Steely Dan, Molly Hatchet (really, not joking), Nazareth...well, you get the picture. It was a 'rock' stack. But I'm a notorious alphabetizer, so I was sliding this stack in between Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Culture Club, Coltrane, Sylvian, Mingus...and I thought, this ain't right. Should I separate my genres?Back in high school, my friends were as diverse. This Maiden LP reminds me of partying under the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore...a trash can with a fire lit inside to keep us warm in winter. Some cold Jack and a few cigs with the 'wrong' bunch of friends, some still around and a few who have passed on. Come the following Mondays I'd be back in my 'honors' classes thinking, "should I separate my genres?"
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name (Live) (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - The Prisoner (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - 22 Acacia Avenue (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills (Mp3)
25 comments:
no man, straight alphabetical. separating by genre is unAmerican and sends the wrong message to your records.
OK, now that was funny...
By genre, alpha and in chronological order (natch!). Back in college I went so far as to separate my collection based on the spine colors. Of course I had to change it back the next day.
And while I sort of agree with jimbromski, there's nothing wrong with a little bit (albeit in small doses) of musical "profiling"...
So, where is the line drawn--do I need to seperate new wave from the rock stuff, for example?
e pluribus rockum
I've always noticed that at Orpheus, the guy sometimes puts the solo records next to the group records (i.e. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are filed next to The Who), or the Kiss Solo records are next to Kiss records.
Alphabetical by artist. However the only place Iron Maiden should be is in small pieces in the bin. You've lost it this week.
Lost it? Why, my sense of humor is firmly intact, Adam. Now, yours...?
swiss adam never had it...
nor has he ever had any whiskey, or illicit bonfire soot in his lungs.
but alphabetizing ...sheesh
file that concept under Styx "Too Much Time On My Hands"
only an anal retentive Swiss Adam has time for that kinda nonsense
ask yourself
What Would Eddie Do?
Separate your genres - there really is no need dear boy.
Mix with all kinds. Taste all the dips on the smorgasbord. Sample the cheap and the dear, the rough with the smooth, the tame with the wild.
As sure as the buds on your tongue change, so will your taste for aural pleasure.
Besides my dear Jon, don't be so fuckin' anal - life's too short!
Great stuff this week by the way.
It was sliding that Coltrane record right up next to Culture Club that got me goin...
Aaaaand it was just a few months ago that after all this time I found the NEED to alphabetize. Couldn't find a damn thing.
Exactly. When you start to get a large record collection, you have to have some type of order to locate a record. Otherwise you'll spend an hour just looking for a particular one. I like DVD's idea of co-mingling.
I did separate by genre and then alphabetize a while back. It is great when I'm I've got a mood in mind, but it does limit how often I'm surprised by something. Maybe my collection is too small (of course!), but maybe the genres limit the surprise factor.
I'm wondering both whether it was Pt. Pleasant boardwalk, and how you had a bonfire under that boardwalk - it had to be somewhere further south where the boardwalks are higher right?
Actually, further north than Point Pleasant--Avon/Bradley/Belmar Beaches. I haven't been by there in ages, but at the time and at certain points, you could easily stand.
Vinyl is alive and well in Boise, Idaho thanks to the Vinyl Preservation Society of Idaho.
This year they participated in Record Store Day with local independent record dealer The Record Exchange and are planning cool things for the upcoming Vinyl Record Day on August 12, 2008.
Look for more on this historic partnership in the days to come on www.vpsidaho.org or MySpace page: www.myspace.com/vpsidaho
Thanks for reading, and keep ‘em spinnin’ everyone!
Well, I sort stuff out. I have separate shelves for the Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Band, for the blues, for traditional soundtracks, for traditional pop (Sinatra, Al Hirt, etc.) for country, for gospel and for anthologies. Everything else -- the bulk of the 2,900 -- is alphabetical.I tried putting it all together once, but having Fairport Convention next to Percy Faith weirded me out! (The CDs, on the other hand, are jumbled beyond the help of a librarian.)
Alphabetical, but put your lady's copy of Huey Lewis and the News-Sports and Bruce Willis (!) at the end, so that nobody would think it might be yours... Also compilations go at the end right? Shamus
Separating the genres only causes more problems - you're only going to end up with records that you can't seem to fit anywhere, then you might decide to have an unclassifiable section, but from what you've written so far, that will just annoy you even more. So straight alphabetical, and then chronological is the only way to go. As someone mentioned previously, it's easy to locate a particular record that way. Also, if one of your records is missing, you'll know about it.
Blimey! A man expresses a dislike for Iron Maiden and all this is brought down upon him. I have a well developed sense of humour ta very much, but growing up in Manchester in the mid-80s meant lines were drawn, and some things are beyond the pale. Still, nice to be mentioned on the front page...
While I'm still here, I reckon finding Culture Club next to Coltrane is all part of the fun of a decent sized record collection.
Don't sort by genre, by mood! Angry music, mellow sunday afternoon music, party music, etc. Genres are too limiting and ill defined. Alphabetize within each group.
The Intangible Arts Brigade for Anal Retentive Album Collecting forbids genre groupings.
It's a road to disaster: Some of Billy Cobham's material is more fusion-ish, some is more straight-up jazz. "Industrial" can mean (should mean) Throbbing Gristle but now somehow stuff like NiN has appropriated that genre. And TG shouldn't be anywhere near Reznor if you're doing genres. And heck: Would Floh de Cologne be Krautrock or Spoken Word? AIEEEEE! TOO MUCH!
Simple alphabetic filing is a lovely thing. THE ALPHABET MAKES STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. Steeleye Span next to Stereolab: awesome.
And I tend to file comps alphabetically with everything else as well. Keep it simple, lads. Therein likes salvation.
Another example from IntangibleArts HQ: Kate Bush adjacent to Butthole Surfers. Now there's a match for you.
Update: Guess how many hits to the blog I had this day when I posted Iron Maiden's "Number of the Best"?
666
Really.
You meet a girl. You speak about vinyl. You get her back to your apartment. After this chain of events you don't have the time to remember if your 180 gram copy of Elvis Costello's first album is under "New Wave" or "Singer/Songwriter". Just go to "C" and put it on before she unsnaps her bra.
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