The image above is from one side of my CD shelf (side "A"). The shelf is 8 feet by 8 feet square, and I got it at Ikea. If you look closely you can see that I stack the CDs on both sides, so each square can house 4 rows of CDs. I have them divided by type and then again sorted alphabetically. I tried just alphabetically before, but it makes it a pain to find things that you're not looking for. By which I mean, it makes it tough to browse. You can also see some vinyl on the bottom. That is completely unsorted; and to be honest, I'm not even sure what's down there.
Here is side "B". There are more CDs on this side than on the other. How many do I have in total? I have no clue. Lots. The CDs stacked on top of each other on the top shelves are ones I still have to sort. I did a lot today, but there are still a few that need to be sorted.
Here is the first square for one type: "Electronic". I'm pretty loose in my definitions of types, so I resist using the word "genre". This type has music that is made primarily with a computer or a synthesizer, although some acoustic stuff is in here as well. This has things like Kraftwerk, Caribou, Depeche Mode and even some Armin Van Buuren. Things like that.
"Rock" is a tougher one, and it includes some things that might be "Pop" in here as well, the same as some "Pop" might be "Rock". For this one it's mostly harder, faster and rougher music than I'd put it "Pop". This also includes Punk, so I have things like The Ramones, The Clash, Eels, The Flaming Lips and Marilyn Manson. I know a lot of people wouldn't agree with my filing method, but whatever.
"World" is mostly things that have non-english vocals, or uses a music type that is associated with a particular people group. I've got a bunch of Putumayo collections in here, as well as some Afro-beat and some French language stuff.
Note that this is "Country & Folk" and not just "Country", so there is some really bad junk in here like Billy Ray Cyrus and Alan Jackson as well as some really great stuff like The Grateful Dead and John Prine.
I think this one needs no explanation. Look! You can see Eddie!
I put "Pop" together with "Rap" because they both tend to be a bit heavy on the production. Maybe that's a dumb way to group things, but it seemed to make sense to me. This has things like Mariah Carey, A Tribe Called Quest, U2 and Architecture in Helsinki.
"Experimental and Difficult to Classify" has albums that are either pure crap or pure genius. I have Tagaq's Auk/Blood in here along with lots of Chad VanGaalen and his Black Mold. Also in here are some bizarre compilations and some CDs that have oddly shaped cases, such as a Pearl Jam CD that you might be able to see that was so oddly shaped I couldn't get it to fit on a regular row.
Yeah, this one is kind of broad, but it goes more by "feel". These are things you might hear on a "Jazz" radio station or something like that. It has some of the big band greats in here as well as the jazz legends, and some new funk like the Budos Band. I also put the crooners like Tony Bennett in here.
"Instrumental" isn't really all instrumental, I have an AC/DC album in here that was the soundtrack to Iron Man 2, and it's basically just some old AC/DC songs. Still, there is some Mozart and Beethoven here too. The instrumental guitarists are in here as well, like Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I also put Godspeed You Black Emperor in here along with Tangerine Dream. Some people might argue those should go in "Electronic", but whatever.
This last section is basically just "Blues"...there is some R&B in here; like Sharon Jones and the Dapkings, but for the most part it's BB King, Taj Mahal, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Baldry...etc...
So that's it. Lots of music! What do you think? Do you see anything you recognize?
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