Looking To Pass The Time? Look At John Peel's Record Collection.

I tried to do this yesterday, when the new website dedicated to legendary BBC radio DJ John Peel's amazing record collection, which counted roughly 26,000 LPs, was announced. But then too many vinyl obsessives feverishly converged on it at once, and the WEBSITE CRASHED. This is the power of the music nerd.

It's back up now, arranged alphabetically, and a letter will be released every week until October 1. The interface is fluid, the design attractive, and if you move your mouse over an album you're curious about, there's extra info about the act. It's also an interesting new way to catalog and archive music online, and is inspiring for those of us who have no idea how to organize our own unwieldy collections. Gliding down the shelves, organized by Peel's own meticulous filing system, has some sort of calming effect on the obsessive-compulsive brain.

Bye, social life.