"The man that hath no music in himself... is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils."

Operation Carwash.

As in, running my life through the mangle. Scrubbing down the minutiae of my existence. Spring cleaning.

And, of course, music always sounds better in a carwash. (If you don't believe me, a) try it, or b) read Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.)

I'm currently wading through the mess which is my iTunes library. It's sad that in this day and age, music is so immediately accessible that it's just become another consumer item, like those decorative candles you saw on sale that one time. You aren't going to burn them, they have no practical use, they just sit around saying, aren't I cultured? I have pretty candles.

My iTunes is like that. Having subscribed to various podcasts offering free indie/unknown 'Songs of the Day' for several months, I've accumulated over 800 songs which I've listened to once or not at all, and today is the day I've decided once and for all to sort them out. (On a sidenote, head to http://www.indiefeed.com (I listen to the Indie Pop and Alternative/Modern Rock channels) or http://kexp.org (which can be very good, doesn't have the annoying bookends of the Indiefeeds, but contains far too much country for my liking). Of course there are hundreds, but these three keep me occupied!)

It's the grabby-grabby attitude which led me to build up this non-library which needs to change, I know. It's no good pretending to be avant-garde and out there, listening to unusual music, if I hate most of it, or ignore it in favour of David Bowie, Fall Out Boy and Laura Marling. I could just unsubscribe, work through the music-heap there is, then re-subscribe in the future. But for some reason, I can't bring myself to stop the flow of 'new' music... just in case I like it.

And don't get me wrong, there are plenty of tracks I do like! These podcasts have introduced me to Tullycraft, Ill Lit, and plenty of other bands, but to be honest, a lot of it is absolute rubbish. The song I was just listening to - Tambourine by Happy Hollows - was bobbing along nicely, heading for the 'keep' playlist, when suddenly it dissolved into a girl squeaking over a discordant synth noise which sounded like a whale fighting a cat. Not pleasant. Call me a traditionalist, but I like my music with a melody.

I'm plowing through, separating the massive wodges into playlists by artist and working through each letter so as not to get disheartened. Sometimes I feel like I'm deleting songs I might have liked were I in a better mood - but to be honest with you, I don't listen to the music I buy enough, let alone give these arbitrary songs a second chance...