Here are some questions you may be asking right now:
Q: What is happening here?
A: I’m pulling my CD’s out of their storage chest one by one and am going to listen to them during my commute, then reflect on the music and the drive. It’s a pretty long commute and my car has a CD player. I like thinking critically and reflecting on music and haven’t written seriously about it since college. Plus, it’s cheaper than therapy.
Q: What is this chest? Why is it full of CD’s?
A: It’s a big chest! It’s quite heavy and there are a bunch of old video games in it, and also a couple hundred CD’s, give or take a few, under the false bottom. My partner bought it second-hand for her sister’s Harry Potter-themed bachelorette party. It has pictures of Ron and Hermione and Harry’s parents taped to the underside of the lid. I put a bunch of my stuff that was cluttering up the house in it and then we moved.
Q: Describe this organizational system for the CD’s
A: That’s not a question, but ok. Ahead of the aforementioned move, I organized and stuffed a few hundred CD’s into the aforementioned chest. They are organized 1) by first name of artist or band name, without the The, then 2) chronologically by initial release date if I have more than one album by that artist. I did run out of space in the chest so there are a bunch stacked on top that got all jostled. It’s chaos! Once I get to those it’ll be kind of a crapshoot if they are alphabetical or not.
Q: So you are listening to all the CD’s in alphabetical order?
A: Yes, I thought I that was clear from earlier in this post and the title of this project, Chest of CD’s, A to Z.
Q: What kind of music can I expect to be covered here?
A: Have you ever asked yourself “What embarrassing music did I listen to in high school and what did I spend all of my disposable income on?” For me, that’s the answer to this question. As far as genres go— indie, hip-hop, country, pop, random stuff I picked up at shows. It’ll be a fun mishmash and hopefully a pleasant surprise for you and me, both.
Q: Haven’t you done something like this already?
A: I have! In 2012, I listened, in alphabetical order, to all 2,574 songs on my iPod, Naima, and then tweeted about the songs using the hashtag #Naima2574. I did end up listening to all 2,574 songs, but only tweeted using that hashtag 3 times. I hope to do more entries in this project before getting bored or giving up or getting distracted or whatever.
Q: How often are you gonna post?
A: Once or twice a week, at most. I am not interested in blowing up your inbox and have other things I want to listen to on my commute. I have podcasts to keep up on and genuinely enjoy music and the radio and want to listen to that too. Expect to see me in your inbox only often enough to remember this newsletter exists.
Q: What if I want to read more of your posts? Once or twice a week isn’t that often!
A: That’s pretty often, if you ask me! If you want though, you can follow me on Twitter, @kernelenchilada, where I do posts on music and sports and politics and stuff in a micro-blogging format on a semi-frequent occasion.
Q: What happens when you finish listening to all the CD’s?
A: Right now, this is a problem for future me, and you too if you don’t unsubscribe by then. Maybe I’ll pivot to cassettes. Maybe to vinyl. Maybe this project will just end. Not everything needs to be a franchise or a cinematic universe, ok?
Here’s the bottom line: I have a long commute and a lot of CD’s. I am gonna listen to all of them and then blog at you. Some of the music will be good, some of the writing will be good. I hope it will all be interesting, at the very least.