Arranging record collection in alpha order: C/D?

Under T, right?

I am a crazy bag lady!

To the used record store har har snort

1. New Wave/leftfield Dance
2. Classic Disco, Italo/Euro/Hi-NRG
3. NY/80s Club Classics
4. Chicago House/Detroit Techno
5. NY + UK House + Environ/Balihu(this crate is mostly Renegade Soundwave and Todd Terry records and Morgan Geist white labels)
6. Old School Hip-Hop and Breakdance
7. Random new stuff I like(DFA, Viewlexx, etc)

these are all totally overflowing and sometimes I get confused, especially as to whether something goes in number 3 or number 6, like Jonzun Crew or Warp 9. And because of this, I often forget certain new wave records because they're filed away with the rest of the records(i.e. New Order is on the shelf because otherwise it'd fill the "new wave dance" section, which is really more for something like Blow by Data or Night Moves.)

I dated a girl who has a couple of thousand CDs, but they were almost all burned copies in white cases. She was quite proud of her white wall of CDs, marked in black ink with the name of the artist and album. She had them by genre.

I keep my stuff alphabetized, with "various artists" compilations at the end chronologically by year released. And I keep track of everything in a database. The clever thing I worked out just recently is a random function in the database. Sort of like shuffle on an iPod. But not, since it just picks 'em and doesn't play 'em.

Disco continuum: anything from Philly to disco to Italo to Hi-Nrg
Hardcore continuum: old school, happy, jungle, gabber and UKG
Hip hop and jamaican
Deep house and US garage
Chicago house and detroit techno
Acid house, classic house, freestyle and 80s proto-house oddities
Retro: soul, 80s RnB, early jamaican (7"s)

i was starting to ponder doing it by genre and then alphabetically within each genre. not sure if it's a very good idea, though.

i used to years ago but cant be arsed now. Maybe if i got some shelves up I might

It's not a very good idea - it's an EXTREMELY good idea! I'm biased because that's how my records are organized. What's the downside?

I once knew a DJ who filed his ten thousand records by the date he'd bought them. Of course, you'd have to be a ruthlessly honest, confident fellow to admit to the world you'd only found out about [insert all-time artist] last week. But if you were that nuts, you probably wouldn't care anyway.

Did alphabetical within genre years ago. Had them alphabetical for ages, but my housemates kept swiping them. Putting them under genre confused them, and they couldn't find anything, so they'd have to ask and from that point on I knew who had what.

Organized by place is my only way now.

I do alpha w/in genre as well now. I finally broke down and started separating some of the easier-to-separate genre stuff around two years ago when I ran out of room on the main shelf.

now I have the main stack and another wall with individual shelves for:
folk
blues/country/gospel/oldtime
12" singles
funk/soul
reggae/etc
techno/electronic beat stuff
jazz
highbrow classical "modern composer" stuff
beat up old classic rock dollar albums
compilations
box sets

It still cracks me up that you all have been talking about this stuff for this many years.

I had a roommate in college who had his stuff alphabetically by first name, and,, dunno how to put it, by how we commonly referred to artists: Jerry Garcia under Jerry, Led Zepplin under Zepplin etc.

Of course, I had stuff filed by genre and association, so Coltrane was to the left of Miles, with Elvin Jones next to Coltrane, and McLaughlin to the right with Mahavishnu, and Wayne Shorter in between, with Sidewinder closer to Miles, and the Weather Report stuff further away, and the Miroslav tucked in there. It was actually easy to find stuff even though I already had 100s of albums.

This would be classic if I ever finished it.

P J Harvey under P ("P J Harvey"'s the band name) or H?

Ice Cube goes under C.

The Stooges under S, Iggy and the Stooges under I, and Iggy Pop under P.

Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf under W.

Little Richard under L.

Alice Cooper under A, because I don't have any solo Alice Cooper.

C. Captain Beefheart
or
D. Chris D.

Filing by any sort of system is DUD if you have 1,800 CDs and a 1,000 CD shelf. They just start piling up in stacks on the floor, desk, shelves, in drawers, wherever the heck I can fit the damn things. I sold 30 last week. That's a start.

Dr Feelgood... D or F?

Dr goes under "D" -- Dr Octagon, Dr Dooom, etc. for me.

Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom go under "K," obviously!

I rate them separately, and tend to file by distinct name rather than associated major artists.

Same goes for Animal Collective. I put Animal Collective under "A," Campfire Songs under "C," Terrestrial Tones gets its "T," Jane goes to "J," Panda Bear goes to "P" and Avey Tare to "A" since they are both stage names (filed by first letter of first word), and I think that's pretty much it on my shelf. They are all separate entities, and are treated as such.

Though I admit, I do see the appeal of filing associated acts together -- you'd get a working chronology of the artists' stuff, regardless of name attached to it.

Then, of course, the problem becomes where to file acts like Magnetic Morning, which could go with Swervedriver or Interpol in equal measure. Or maybe the problem is that I own some Interpol to begin with. Or that I'll pick up that Magnetic Morning album when I see it used, out of sheer curiosity.

On a side note, can I bitch about how much it sucks to be a completist? I can't see myself ever getting rid of the Interpol self-titled EP, the first album, or the Black EP -- all fucking great. I could live without Antics, however, and I'd be a better person for not ever hearing the latest album (the one with the lion and the fucking antelopes on the cover!) ever again. I know it's going to sit on my shelf and never be played ever again, but I like the idea of having a complete history of the band. Who knows, maybe the next album will be great? Then I'd be missing a piece of the puzzle if I sold the antelope one back... :'(

Main shelf: Rock, Soul, Pop, Country after 1945, Folk, Folk-Rock. (alphabetized)

Second shelf has sections for: jazz (alphabetized), ethnographic (grouped geographically), and reggae (unorganized.)

Old-timey/blues/gospel/hillbilly reissue section is half on the shelf and half in boxes in the living room, semi-organized by label.

Separate boxes for classical but NOT 20th century classical (palestine, ashley, reich, riley, cage, tudor etc all filed on main shelf.)

Crates on top of the second shelf for split LPs, compilations and 10" vinyl.

45s organized by genre in boxes (indie/noise/punk in one box, soul in another, classic rock in another etc.)

Alphabetical by genre is the way to go.

I do have some problems categorizing some artists that fit over 2 or 4 genres in the same album. Any ideas on how to fix that?

I do have some problems categorizing some artists that fit over 2 or 4 genres in the same album. Any ideas on how to fix that?

That's why I go strict alpha except for classical, because stuff like 80's Laswell projects and Harmolodic funk make genre not work.

I was @ Thurston & Kim's many years back with (namecheck), (namecheck) and (namecheck) and I saw his collection when I went for a piss. He had all his Impulse records together on a shelf and it looked pretty cool.

This is actually a pretty useful thread for me as we just got a new place 'cause I have a huge closet that I'm gonna shelve out, which will hold about 2000 12"/LP. I'll be the first time I can unbox eveything in nearly a decade. I just realized I can arrange them in many ways. I have no idea how many 12" vinyl I have, but I suspect there'll be a purge. There's another closet for CDs; major CD purge looms. Dunno where the 2000+ 7" will go tho'.

I organize my CDs alphabetically by artist, but what do you do when you have something like "Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong" or "Neil Norman/Bobby Sexton"? Sort in the last name of the first artist, i.e. Fitzgerald and Norman?

Yep, definitely - the name would be 'Fitzgerald, Ella and Louis Amstrong' according to proper listing.

I absolutely cannot do genre, because I couldn't decide on how specific I would be or what genre most of my records would fit under. So I'd just end up with inconsistencies. Straight alphabetical is the path for me.

there is also a 'miscellaneous' section at the bottom of the main shelf filled with field recordings, spoken word, instructional records, childrens records etc.
-ian

This, however, I do. I have a small separate section for pretty much this exact grouping, though sound effects records and library stuff tend to make up the larger part of it.

By geography, then chronology.

I would like to do chronology, as I think it would make for a very interesting look at my collection, but I have a terrible head for dates, so it would again just make it harder for me to find stuff. I might try it one day.

I keep a section at the end of my collection for Various Artist/Soundtrack stuff, which can get a bit complicated to keep alphabetical.

My problem with geography is things like The Pretenders.

With split artist issues, if it is a collaboration, I go with the first name on the cover, if it is a joint release like a split 7 inch, I have a section at the end for releases like that.

Linda Thompson, Richard Thompson, Richard and Linda Thompson. Once I got so stupid I separated Neil Young from Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and then I got confused I said That was too far.

xpost to Vulgar, Yeah, it goes Split Releases to Tribute to Various by Title or label to Soundtrack

damn, I don't think that was the proper use of xpost.

what do you do when you have something like "Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong" or "Neil Norman/Bobby Sexton"? Sort in the last name of the first artist, i.e. Fitzgerald and Norman?

I sort by last name of the artist I care more about, even if I have to rearrange the order of the artists. For example, John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey is filed under "H" with my PJ Harvey stuff.

In the case that I care about both artists involved, it's arbitrary but I sort by the more primary artist involved. Boris and Michio Kurihara under "B" (Kurihara is essentially a guest guitarist on a Boris album), Akron/Family and the Angels of Light goes with "Akron" (as I believe Akron/Family are the backing band for Angels on their side of the album).

In the case of toss-up albums, Jessamine and Experimental Audio Research for example, I'll stick it with the first listed artist ("J" in this case). It gets trickier with something like Merzbow, Carlos Giffoni and Jim O'Rourke, all of whom have their own "solo" sections on my shelf.

ive been thinking of aranging mine by genre and then alphabetical order as theyve all been taken out of alpha order since there was some decorating work done but i dont know if i can be bothered as it would take way too much time.

i do it alpha by artist, in order of year of release

That would make my head implode.

I figured that was very common, actually.

Not your head imploding.

For a long time, I tried to group them by genre. But I gave up because I sort of lost track and there were so many that were hard to categorize. Now it's all alphabetical, except I have "cheated" and put Dukes Of Stratosfear between "Skylarking" and "Apples And Oranges" unde XTC rather than under D. A few similar cases too.

i do it alpha by artist, in order of year of release

This is really the best way.

what if you have records you havent yet listened to though - by sticking them in alpha order, the chances of you checking them out is pretty slim. do it by genre and you think 'hmmm i think id like to listen to some psych soul from the early 70s' and all you have to do is go to the right genre section.

Don't file them 'til you listen to them. (That's what I do. And then this: "alpha by artist, in order of year of release." I've tried genre, and it never works; too many crossovers in every direction.)

(Also, numbers of albums within different genres is too unbalanced to divvy up crates in useful manner.)

Yeah, genre is far too much a minefield of crossovers and wtfs to even attempt filing by.

"alpha by artist, in order of year of release." I've tried genre, and it never works...

xhuxk basically OTM, except...

This is as far as I can go with splitting up genres:

- Popular Music
- Unpopular Music (Classical, jazz, noise, world, etc.)
- '60s Girl Groups (Because I have way too many of them)
- Ambient (Kept in the bedroom)
- Comedy (Also kept in the bedroom. I have weird sleeping habits)

Have you thought about merging popular music with comedy? There's about a 95% overlap these days... ;-)

He had all his Impulse records together on a shelf and it looked pretty cool.

I know! All that orange and black! Not that I keep all my Impulse records together - strict alphabetical is the way for me, thanks. But my Coltrane section makes a nice hallowe'en-coloured block.

Bought my first ever Diamonds LP the other day (the Rhino compilation). I must now face this very urgent question for the first time in my life: how are the Diamonds and Neil Diamond alphabetized?

I’d put Diamonds after Diamond; Diamond Head would come before either.

I switched from being a lifelong alphabetical guy to genre last year. It started out broad, but has been undergoing increasing refinement in some quarters. Multi-genre artists (whether within a single record or over the course of their careers) present a conundrum also. But mostly it just goes by general vibe. Overall I have a much easier time finding something I want to listen to and revisiting older albums I might have otherwise forgotten.

Neil Diamond with the N's imo

though I'm alphabetical with a comps section

I’d put Diamonds after Diamond

Correct.

Neil Diamond with the N's imo

Wait, wut?

I've surrendered to that when alphabetizing something on a computer, but in the physical world, no.

xxxp I did the reverse, switching course from 14 (!) years ago

I do alpha w/in genre as well now. I finally broke down and started separating some of the easier-to-separate genre stuff around two years ago when I ran out of room on the main shelf.

now I have the main stack and another wall with individual shelves for:
folk
blues/country/gospel/oldtime
12" singles
funk/soul
reggae/etc
techno/electronic beat stuff
jazz
highbrow classical "modern composer" stuff
beat up old classic rock dollar albums
compilations
box sets

― sleeve, Friday, January 30, 2009 5:44 PM (fourteen years ago)

I totally gave up on this and went back to mostly alphabetical, I am much happier and it is easier to find/see things

I do have two "crates" like Dan above, those are my DJ crates and consist of records that I have not digitized, also mostly in alpha order

I've surrendered to that when alphabetizing something on a computer, but in the physical world, no.

I've surrendered to that when alphabetizing something on a computer, but in the physical world, no.

Same. My CDs are organized by artist's (or composer's) last name or first full word (no articles) of band name, or first word of title if it's a compilation. No genre separation. But there's no way I'm gonna re-tag all the files in my digital Walkman (or on the 4TB hard drive where I store the full collection) as "Coltrane, John" or the like, because that looks horrible to me. So if I want to listen to Crescent I scroll down to J and just deal with it.

also same, MP3s are first-last but all physical media is last-first

I know a guy, primarily a jazz collector, who organizes chronologically by recording date 💁

lol my Sun Ra section is ordered like that, record with the earliest recording first etc, it makes more sense to me for those specifically since the chronology is all over the place on the records anyway

I know a guy, primarily a jazz collector, who organizes chronologically by recording date 💁

That's what I do, but only as a replacement for release date - everything is still primarily by artist (or the leader of the date).

FWIW, artists like "Little Richard" were once confusing to file. He's in the "L" section, but initially it felt wrong to go by an adjective attached to a first name. Then again, he didn't use his last name, so it wasn't like, say, Wild Bill Hickok who would go under H instead of W. (Not a musician, but you know what I mean.)

Yeah, my Dr. John and Professor Longhair albums are filed under D and P, using the "no last name" rule.

I go to the effort of tagging my digital music with "last name, first name" when appropriate.

Biggest confusion for me is names of bands that are names but not legal names, i.e. "Bram Tchaikovsky", under B of T? I chose to treat it as a proper name and went with T but the band "Annie Christian" is under A because it's not the name or pseudonym of a member.

ha yes I recently swapped Elvis Costello into the E section but it just feels wrong

I would probably keep Costello under C if I owned any of his records. Here's the big question, though: do you file Alice Cooper-the-band (Pretties For You through Muscle Of Love) separately from Alice Cooper-the-dude (everything after)?

Yes, because one set of records is under "Alice" and the other under "Cooper", same with PJ Harvey the group and the solo artist.

How do y'all determine where to put collaboration albums, such as Super Session w/Bloomfield and Kooper and Stills? Under the album name or do you choose an artist? Still confused about L.A. Getaway...it's not the group name but will I ever remember to find it under H for Hill or E for Ethridge or B for Barbata?

personally I would probably put those under compilations

shoeboxes are great :
i have a Finders Keepers one, an UNKLE one, a Prince one, a FAX one, a hip hop (massive box to be fair for this one!), a Mo'wax one.
the rest of my cd archive is pretty much : record label (if a label i collect), then genre, then pseudo-random
it makes sense in my head.
but i rarely need to dig out the actual cd, due to it all being on my NAS/Sonos set up.
hence the problem i have is "where the f*ck do i put this cd?" as my various storage places are getting rather overpopulated.

kinda depends on the rest of your compilation, I file super session under Bloomfield next to my copy of east west cuz I dont have any other stills or Al looper headlining stuff.

xposts

collection not compilation.