I don't wanna hear your record collection in my brain anymore.

Used to trade mixdiscs religiously with a doctor pal out East when I first got deep into the music. He had lost his way somewhere round the Jesus and Mary Chain and I had just found the on-ramp to good music. Was what was nice about the days of *Prodigy...finding people one could trade mixdiscs with. Short of going to the library, I hadn't any means to get to the past, and listen to some of what came before what was happening on my stereo then.

Come 1997, Florida happened, and though we still keep in touch, the mixdiscs fell by the wayside some time ago. His kids grew up, my ex and Tyco took over my life and my musical resources and energy to communicate with the world dwindled. Tis what happens when you choose a relationship with someone who has totally opposite inclinations. Would have to wait til the guy was deep into a videogame to sneak off and busy myself with the kind of stuff that really concercned me. Much like my friend, it was my turn to fall by the wayside...Britpop was on it's crash and burn cycle, the trip-hoppers were getting press, and me, well, it was "relationship guy" time.

Lesson learned here...don't think I can ever fall for someone again without there being a musical common ground. Seven years of being told "Lady In Red" was the song he wanted to be our song were seven years of a bad idea gone too far. It's not as if there weren't love songs out there that deal in male relationships (*see attached Kitchens of Distinction song). Funny how some guys like to homosexualise a song or inverse the genders for their own means. The dread ex would take popular top 40 tunes and do the genderswitch at will. Always in the presence of others, of course. Was like an audience based thing. Never happened during the rare occasion when we found ourselves alone. Some people can't seem to function without making their personal lives a spectator sport. Embarrassed, I would usually just find ways of coping through denial. One gets tired of answering really dumb questions ("which one of you is the girl in the relationship?"). Ignorance breeds curiosity, and sometimes that curiosity garners a certain contempt, cause there's only so long that a person can take of someone aiding in bringing attention onto you.

And so today, three years of singlehood, of being the "ManCharlotte" as some friends have called me, what seems to be of most immediate intrigue is making sure that there's some sonic common ground. Cause the profile...it's there...guys who listen to Christina Aguilera are also likely to be the same kind of people who revel in gossipy girl-pal cultures and have an alarming amount of shirtless friends on pages like MySpace. And all I want is for their songs to end, so I can shove some Deerhunter or Serena-Maneesh into their stereos, to numb my disdain. There's a price that has to be paid for making me sit through "Unbreak My Heart".