Time to report on your backlog....

[David Ayers]

I have been telling myself that my backlog is under control... but I counted this morning and found that I still have about 150 unplayed CDs (plus maybe 20/30 LPs). This is about the same total that I had a couple years back when I decided to cut down on new purchases and work through the backlog...

I thought I had really cut down!

I feel a bit ashamed about this and have resolved (once again) to work through the backlog instead of buying new stuff.

So fess up - what kind of backlog are you running? And how can you justify new purchases if you have so many still in the shiny wrapper?

[jazzbo]

I have actually improved my backlog situation, have about twenty right now I haven't gotten to yet because I feel they demand "my full attention" and there is a lot to compete with that.

I've been finding it harder to justify further expenditures with a backlog in front of me. . . . So I just get all "imperial capitalist" with myself and just conquer and spend anyway! One way I get around this is preordering. . . I mean there IS a chance (a slight chance, admittedly) I'll be caught up when the preordered item is actually released!

[mikeweil]

I listen to every CD I purchase within the next two days. But as far as real intensive listening goes .... many items that replace LPs are just checked in the background of some work and then filed away. So ...

[Dan Gould]

Pretty bad right now, with the confluence of my birthday last month; my reel-to-reel transfer project, and a couple of trades. I'd say I'm definitely in the 200+ range.

Good thing I don't plan to buy anything before Christmas.

[neveronfriday]

I have a shopping backlog.

- There are about 90 CDs I absolutely have to buy.

Then there's the money backlog.

- What I need to buy the CDs I don't have yet.

Life sucks, and then you die.

Cheers!

[JohnS]

Apart from a handful of cdrs there is, unusually, no backlog at present. This is jaut a temporary situation as I'm expecting the Tal Farlow Verve set and then the new Miles box within the next few days - so back to normal then.

[Bright Moments]

about 100 and i'm ashamed.

i've slowed down my buying this month, but last night i just had to get the RRK atlantic 3 sided audio cd!

[Jazzmoose]

Well...I can't make fun of people with backlogs anymore; is that enough info?

[jazzmessenger]

I have about 150 unplayed CDs and 3-4 unplayed Mosaic sets. I wish I had more time to listen to music...

[catesta]

My purchases have slowed down quite a bit over the last month, so I'm happy to report I'm all caught up.

Like deus62, I've now accumulated a large shopping list.

Oh well, let the buying resume. B-)

[Matthew]

I have 20 unopened Hathut's lying around, and I've yet to listen to Cecil Taylor's "Two Teas for Texas" box set (which cost me an arm & leg). I also have a lot of stuff I've listened to just once that I need to get back to.

[Jim R]

I also have a lot of stuff I've listened to just once that I need to get back to.

That's an important point. I'm another one who plays everything I buy pretty much immediately, but playing something just once and then filing it away for another day/week/month/year... that can amount to almost the same situation as never having played it at all. Sometimes when I play something once and then don't find time to get back to it, I later realize that I didn't "really listen" the first time. Anyway, my buying has been drastically reduced over the past year or so, and it feels good, for a variety of reasons (more time to catch up, less storage issues, and more $ in the bank).

[sal]

Wow...I have 5 CDs in my backlog and I thought that was bad. You guys make me feel better about myself!

[Matthew]

Wow...I have 5 CDs in my backlog and I thought that was bad. You guys make me feel better about myself!

We're here to help.

[neveronfriday]

I don't really have a backlog. It just often happens, upon first listening to a new CD, that I don't like it as much as I thought I would.

So, I shelve it.

Anyone who has a collection of several thousand CDs can maybe agree that what happens is the following: one suddenly gets into things which are rediscovered years after having been bought. In my case this happens frequently and is not much unlike a fever attack - I listen to these newly discovered recordings extensively, maybe even for too long, and then I shelve them again. Experience tells me that these attacks disappear as sudenly as they come.

Lately though, especially with Jazz, I find myself deliberately taking out recordings I couldn't "tune in" to before. After having heard other recordings which borrowed, for example, from the earlier ones I didn't really like way back when, and after doing lots of reading, I usually give them another spin, approaching them differently. A learning process, really. Often, the latter "process" is a lot more engaging than simply playing a disc for pure pleasure.

Cheers!

Edited October 6, 2004 by deus62

[Guy Berger]

I have actually improved my backlog situation, have about twenty right now I haven't gotten to yet because I feel they demand "my full attention" and there is a lot to compete with that.

Lon,

I'm in the same situation. I had a backlog of almost 40 CDs at the end of July and I've cut it by half since then.

[LAL]

Too many unwrapped discs.

Too many discs listened to only once.

Too many on the want/must buy list.