This summer brought many changes to The Innerspace Library. First we started fresh with a Linux OS and finally said "farewell" to Windows. There was a brief period of limbo as I tested various open source media management software to find the right fit for my collection. I finally settled down with gmusicbrowser which outperformed Clementine and other major players in its handling of large libraries and in the incredible versatility and customization of its GUI.
This was the very first time since the launch of Winamp 5 (the amusing successor to Winamp 3) that I'd explored the power of music metadata to organize my library dynamically across multiple data points. (I'd never really saw the need during my years with MediaMonkey Gold.)
But as the summer drew to a close, I was still irked that my Subsonic media server lacked the function of genre browsing. I'd previously sidestepped this issue by generating mammoth genre playlists to serve as my personally-themed radio stations, each with hundreds or even thousands of the finest albums of their respective genre.
But it was this fresh start in the last few weeks that inspired my refinement of those playlists into distinct album libraries which would zero in on a specific moment of music history. The aim was to bring a semblance of order to the hundred thousand plus tracks in my file library and to give me a set of starting points to really explore the neglected and unplayed folders of my drive.
I'm proud to declare that this evening, the project was a complete success. I've created 100 all-killer-no-filler libraries showcasing each of the largest collections in my catalog. I found that 68% (9,300 albums) of my music library fell neatly into one of these 100 categories.
The following is an index of these 100 playlists, sorted by number of albums. This roster effectively summarizes and gives order to what is otherwise an insurmountable archive. I'm going to enjoy exploring these playlists throughout the fall and into the winter months.
Playlists with 1000+ Albums
- Midnight on Mars: Ambient Worlds - 2,986 Ambient Albums
- Hearts of Space: Innerspace Journey - 30 Year Complete 1,069 Broadcast Archive
Playlists with 200-999 Albums
- Kelly Watch the Stars - 607 Classic Albums of the Downtempo Genre
- Mentalism: Psybient Dreams - 545-Disc Archive of Psybient Electronic Music
- Echowaves: Intergalactic Radio - 450 Legendary Krautrock Albums
- The Shape of Jazz to Come - 387 Modern Jazz LPs (1959-1979)
- Just Gimme Indie Rock!: 379 of the Greatest Indie Rock Albums (1988-2014)
- Underworld: Dark & Long - A 35 Year Chronology - 339 Albums from Screen Gemz to Eno & Hyde
- Old Time Radio: Dragnet (298 Broadcasts)
- Salute to Birdland - 259 Classic Jazz Records (1924-1958)
- FAX +49-69450464 Label Archive: The Legacy of Pete Namlook 254 Disc Catalog
- We Came to Funk Ya - A 227 Album Funk Odyssey
- Ninja Tune: Turn Me Loose - 204 LP Archive of Ninja Tune Records
Playlists with 100-199 Albums
- Days of the Lords: 195 Album Archive of Ethereal & New Wave, Gothic Rock, Minimal Wave, Post-Punk, Jangle & Noise Pop (1976-1997)
- The KLF: Abandon All Art Now - 189-disc Catalog of the Justified Ancients of MuMu
- Shirt Tail Stomp: Swing & The Big Bands - 181 LP and Broadcast Archive
- Tangerine Dream: Journey Through a Burning Brain - 178-Disc Chronology of TD & its Side Projects
- Old Time Radio: The Adventures of Superman (171 Broadcasts)
- Night Lines - 140 Album Archive of Deep House Sessions
- Light Patterns - Jazz of Tomorrow - 139 Future Jazz Albums
- Heaven or Las Vegas: 30 Years of Dream Pop & Ethereal Wave (134 Album Archive)
- Max & Dima: Sapovnela Studio Sessions - 131 Deep House DJ Sets
- Nurse with Wound: Walking Like Shadow - 127 Album Discography
- Old Time Radio: X Minus One - 122 Broadcasts (1955-1973)
- Deutsche Grammophon: 111 Years of DG (111-Disc Box Set)
- Lemon Jelly : Going Places - 110-Disc Catalog of All Things Jelly
- Miles Davis: The Complete Prestige & Columbia Recordings - 109 LPs released between 1955-2014
- Daft Punk: Daftendirekt - 104-LP Chronology
- Flea Market Funk - 100-Disc Archive of Funky Soul & Rare Groove
- Frank Zappa: Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar - 100-disc Catalog (1966-2006)
- RYM's Top 100 Downtempo & Trip Hop Albums
Playlists with 75-99 Albums
- Franz Liszt: Lisztomania! - 97 LP Archive
- Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser - 97 LP Discography
- Good Looking Records: 94-Disc Archive of LTJ Bukem's Intelligent D'n'B Label
- Franklin Mint: The 100 Greatest Classical Recordings - 88 LP Catalog
- Somnium - 87-Album Library of Pure Drone Music
- Aphex Twin: We are the Music Makers - 86 Album Chronology of Richard D James
- Mike Oldfield: Tricks of the Light - 86 LP Discography (1973-2010)
- Jimmy Smith: Jazz Scattin' - 85 LP Discography
- Cinematic Soundscapes - 83-Disc Library of Music for Films
- Old Time Radio: CBS Radio Mystery Theater - The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (83-Disc Box Set)
- Klaus Schulze: I Sing the Body Electric - 81 LP Discography
- Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Bicentennial Collection - 80 LP Complete Works
- Old Time Radio: BBC Radio - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (79-Disc Set)
- Vangelis: Poem Symphonique - 77 Album Discographic Archive
- Old Time Radio: The Shadow - 75 Original Broadcasts (1937-1954)
Playlists with 50-74 Albums
- Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy - 74-Disc Catalog (1957-1994)
- John Cage: A Chance Operation - 73 LP Discography
- 2manyDJS - This is Radio Soulwax: 72 Mashup Sessions
- Brian Eno: Strange Overtones - 70 LP Discography (1972-2015)
- Peter Gabriel: Here Comes the Flood - 68-Disc Catalog (1977-2010)
- Ornette Coleman: Change of the Century - 66 LP Discography
- Prayer for the Paranoid: 66 Albums from a Decade of Shoegaze (1993-2003)
- Muslimgauze: The Broken Radio of Istanbul Station - 63 Album Discography
- The Piano Has Been Drinking: The Complete Recordings of Tom Waits - 63 LPs (1973-2011)
- Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin' - 62 Album Discography
- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte - 61 LP Archive
- Old Time Radio: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Audiobooks (Unabridged 60-Disc Set)
- Philip Glass: Glasspieces - 60 LP Discography of Operas, Symphonies, Sonatas and Scores
- Cornelius: Out of Phase - 60 Album Discography
- Spacemind: Wonderland Syndrome - 60 Psybient DJ sets
- Cafe del Mar: Step into the Sunshine - 59-Disc Archive of the Sounds of Ibiza
- Throbbing Gristle: 555 Jazz Funk Greats - 56 Album Discography
- DJ Food - Solid Steel - 55 LPs of Classic Jazz Breaks
- Herbie Hancock: One FInger Snap - 52 Album Discography
- Ash Ra Tempel & Manuel Gottsching: Deep Distance - A 40 Year, 50 LP Chronology
- Houdini's Musical Box: Early Experimental Electronic Music (1940-1976) - 50 LP Archive
- Porcupine Tree: Synesthesia - 50 Album Discography (1983-2013)
Playlists with 10-24 Albums
- From Murmur to Monster: 21 Key Albums of the Jangle Pop Era (1983-1994)
- Old Time Radio: Orson Welles Mercury Theater 1938 (20 Program Broadcasts)
- Philips Prospective 21e siecle Label 18-LP Archive (1956-1972)
- RYM: Round Midnight - 18 of the Highest-Rated Cool Jazz Records
- Deutsche Grammophon Avant Garde: 17-LP Complete Recordings (1967-1971)
- Braindance: A 15-LP IDM Chronology of Warp Records
- The Plastikman Arkives: 1993-2010 (14-Disc Box Set)
- Jellyroll Radio - Ragtime, Dixieland & Bluegrass Standards (13-Disc Catalog)
- Claude Debussy - 12-Disc Complete Piano and Orchestral Works
- Kompakt Records: Cirrus Minor - 12 Years of Ambient Music (2001-2013)