upstill (05/27/82)
I was just idling curiously. How do people categorize their records for easy access? I'm not just talking about when you want a particular record by a particular artist -- alphabetical is obviously optimal there. I mean when you are in a particular mood and want something to suit it. So who has non-normal classifications? I use "ambient", "mellow", "polite", "regular", "nasty" and "psychotic", but I am unconvinced that this is optimal, and the adjectives don't seem quite right. Alternatives? Steve
rlr (05/27/82)
I personally don't like the idea of dividing records up into categories, but for practicality I do it a little myself. The divisions are pretty broad: popular, sorted by artist (includes rock, punk, soul, reggae, jazz, and avant garde where the performer(s) is (are) the composer(s); classical, sorted by composer (often, in contrast to popular music, performer is some artist other than the composer, e.g., an orchestra), electronic (includes true original electronic music composition and "synthesizer renditions" of the "works of the great masters"), sorted by artist (huh?), and comedy, sorted by comedian(s) (this for some reason includes the Rutles album). I divide my collection up into other subidivisions as well, and I wonder if others out there do similar things: -- separate popular albums by individual artists from collections/ anthologies from several artists, sorting these albums by title (!!); this makes an individual cut hard-to-find (which album?) and forces one to remember names like "Super Hits from the Sixties" (a composite); any other suggestions? -- separate singles from albums (natch), but separate recent singles (~1975-- ) from "oldies" from singles I am embarassed to own (don't ask); does anyone else do this? is there an archiving scheme? (when does a "newie" become an "oldie"?) -- separate 12-inch records that are not albums form the actual albums and sort by artist; this is tough--is a 12" record with six cuts an album as the record companies would like you to believe? and what's the difference between a 12" single (A and B side) and an "EP" of up to six cuts? Sort them separately? Is a record with three cuts an EP or a single? What about 12"-ers with more than one artist??? -- store 10 inch EPs separately by artist (this may make sense until you see my Squeeze 10" which comes in a custom 12" jacket) Some people ask me why 12" non-albums (singles/EPs) should be separate-- my only answer is that many of them have no writing on the side of the jacket to identify them (neither do some of my albums!!), and they would get lost in the shuffle (I'm a real stickler for buying records you can read from the side--ask anyone who's bought me a record for a present). Since my other 12"s are kept separately in a bin you can search through from above, as opposed to checking the sides. What do other people think of this system? Please respond by mail (...!pyuxjj!rlr) unless it's something of general interest. Thanx in advance. Rich Rosen pyuxjj!rlr