Just call me DJ Lanj

I got two turntables and a microphone... and some awesome 70's hair.

As we all know, I am a giant music fan/snob. So my friend Crystal sent me an email what feels like months ago telling me about this program online she wanted me to try out called blip.fm. This website kind of lets you play your own radio dj and post your own songs to listen to for free from a library of millions of songs on the website, and other people who use the service can give you props or comment or re-share.

I've been doing it about a week, and so far I'm liking it. While it will NEVER replace a real radio station (there's something about an editorial voice and a voice altogether that I miss), it's nice to be able to listen to songs that have been in my head or are a little obscure while I'm at work. I've been posting songs from people like The Polyphonic Spree, Plastic Bertrand, and The Boy Least Likely. And bands that may be unsigned, like Thick As Thieves which I have sung the praises of in earlier posts, have songs on this site, so they get a listenership.

It's also cool to see what my friends are listening to and get recommendations from that. And I've had theme days, too. I am going to a Shins show in May, so I decided to "blip" a Shins-A-Day.

The site has some limitations. You can't mix up the order of songs, and it will only play that "page" of songs, so if you have a song on another page of your playlist, you need to click to that page or just re-blip that song so it's current. And not every song by every artist will be on this page. Also, some songs seem to expire, so you click on it to share and it's unavailable. The mixing I don't mind, because then that'd be like getting iTunes for free. And we don't need another form of the media industry going to hell right now. (I'll probably post on the Globe crisis at a later date)

Definitely an interesting site to check out if you like music, and want to listen to certain songs or share your interests with other music fans/snobs. And if you want to follow me on that site, my DJ name is lanj.