Wednesday, August 6, 2008

idle hands are the devils playthings


that's one of my favorite expressions in the english language. one must have work, one must keep busy.
and fall is coming, soon. and the days get dark, and a chill seeps through the cracks. and the body atrophies, the mind slows. it's almost hibernating time.
but i've been asleep too long!
i've given myself a task!
i'm going to create a database for all my music. something i can punch up on the computer, or print out and give to acquaintances who may want to expand their musical vocabulary.
but how should i organize it? alphabetically? do i start with hasil adkins? or 13th floor elevators? do they go under 't'? and do i put roky ericksons solo work alongside them? ugh. plus,i always think about how dickie scoffed at alphabetical arrangement in 'high fidelity'. and i really liked cusaks idea of arranging them autobiographically. but that may require far more recall than i possess.
perhaps chronologically. but again there are question. do you place them when they were recorded or when they were released? 'people take warning' contains tracks recorded in 1913, but the collection was released in 2007. robert johnson. only released in the '80's.
and what about genres? do you separate jazz from rock from surf from reggae from noise from country? i don't like that idea. my one gripe about record stores is that everything isn't lumped together. sure, i'm a rock snob, but that just encourages the wrong type of people to be dicks. yeah, i'm talking about jazz fans.
should i put a whole category for compilations and various artists? that always gets so messy.
separate dead artists from live ones?
side projects? do they go alongside bands the members come from? does loose fur go with wilco or jim o'rourke? or sea and cake? or sonic youth?
and where the fuck do box sets fit in with all this?
jesus, i need to take a nap.
but not for too long. cuz i've gotta keep busy. there's a hell hound on my trail.

1 comment:

MO'SH said...

A highly-anticipated project! You should just color-code it by the spines!