The MySpace vortex

Haven't been around here for a bit because I've succumbed to the allure of MySpace. I'd been (and still am to an extent) sceptical about how valuable it would really be, but in the end the usefulness of a list of upcoming gigs where one doesn't have to remove dates that have happened, having four MP3s hosted for free, plus the old drug-taking argument ('everybody else is doing it . . . ') have persuaded me. Still, I do have some sympathy with Kool Keith in this month's issue of the Wire: "You can't meet a girl and a guy and have a social conversation because people don't meet anymore. They just go on MySpace and all the Websites." I also began to feel things were conspiring against me when I went to my local university (where I sometimes work as a music technician) to record a few solo tracks I could upload as MP3s. For a start, when I got to the studio I planned to use I found it completely gutted, with the lecturer and other staff in the process of installing a soundproof recording booth! No worries, I'll go next door. No proper mike stand? Nevermind, I can improvise. DAT machine not working? OK, I can record straight into the computer, I'm not a hi-fi nazi. Finally, got some music - let's upload it. But the internet connection's not working . . . Still, I managed to get the stuff onto another computer and onto the site. I suppose three and a half hours work for ten minutes of music isn't actually that bad a strike rate - you could have an album done in record quick time if you could keep that up! Anyway, should there be anyone interested, you can hear the music I eventually set sail into cyberspace here.