Introduction.

I find myself in this situation every day: I want to listen to music, but I'm not sure just what music. I look to my iTunes library (which, like most people's, has been steadily growing for about 5-6 years now), beginning with A (sorted by artist) and swiftly become completely overwhelmed. Just taking in and synthesizing the information I see before my eyes from Aaron Copland to Autechre is enough of a chore to make me close the program and watch reruns of The Drew Carey Show instead.

And it's hurting my music listening.

Can I get an amen? The sheer breadth of musical output there is to take in, coupled with its frighteningly immediate level of availability makes the modern music library a sparkling bohemoth of Afro-Soul-Ragtime-Dance-Rock-Bluegrass-Blues-Folk-Electro-Classical-Punk-Noise-Metal-Avant Garde-Pop. My personal library is 37 days, 4 hours, 47 minutes, and 43 seconds long. I'd estimate that I haven't even heard about a third of it.

I, nay, we need to grow more familiar with our libraries. Don't you love that dude who can point to his wall of records and pull out the perfect LP to fit the mood of the moment? Well libraries like my iTunes Behemoth are kinda killing that dude. He's on his last legs. His drag is old, and the digital drag is new. We're building massive walls of unlistened-to music that's filling up our harddrives and blacking out our hearts. We're completely uninformed when it comes to that perfect lovemakin' funk album or the Rockinest, Ramblin'est Route 66 raga record.

It's time to slay the beast and become intimate with our records again. So, of course, I decided to get mathematical with it. Here's the plan: take the winter, and listen to all of it. That's right, all of it. In alphabetical order. If this sounds like a tiny task to you, ask yourself: could you? 37 days + worth of music. That's enough for about 2,664 episodes of The Drew Carey Show. Still want to challenge my ear-fortitude? I didn't think so. So wish me luck instead.

Here are the rules:

1. The library (The Behemoth) must be listened to in alphabetical order by album. All "straggler" tracks (songs whose corresponding album I do not own the rest of) come at the end of the project, also in alphabetical order by album.
2. Songs may not be paused. If they are, they must be restarted.
3. Albums may be stopped during the breaks between tracks and resumed later (I have a life).
4. Albums may be deleted if I decide I don't like them mid-album, but I must enter into a contract never to obtain these albums again.
5. If circumstance dictates (eg. The extended family doesn't want to hear Jay-Z during Christmas dinner), albums may be skipped in favor of the next album in alphabetical order, but must be returned to before moving on to the next alphabetical-order letter in the library.
6. Rules may be added as necessary to preserve the sanity of the listener (they will appear in this post as well as the post immediately following the addition), but may not be retracted.
7. If I own a record on vinyl, I must give my poor ears a freakin' break from the digital meltdown that is iTunes by enjoying it in its intended medium of consumption.

Here's where it gets fun for you: I'll be posting updates as often as possible about how I'm doing, what albums surprised me, what tracks I used to love but now I hate, and what silly insights and crackpot theories I have regarding the artist's process. So this becomes part experiment, part music blog, part personal blog, and all fun for the whole family.

Do I recommend this project for everyone? I'll let you know in March. :)