The Internet

The excellent independent radio station WFMU is demonstrating why we need the Internet - they’ve opened the Free Music Archive for your perusal and use. The selection is still growing, but it gives you the chance to dig through some obscure and not-so-obscure (I found some EPMD cuts there, which should please old-school hip-hop fans). It also brings together several different radio stations and other sources, so you get a diverse selection. Go, download, and enjoy.

If you’re at a loss for this year’s Christmas background music, don’t go digging out the old Ed Ames records.  NPR has put together an eclectic mix of holiday-themed songs from artists as disparate as Dean Martin to the Ramones.  You can stream it through any web browser you so desire.  Just be sure to to hit the volume quickly if Grandma is around during The Pogue’s “Christmas In New York.”

Probably not.  It’s unavoidable, of course - you’ll start off with an innocent Google search and realize only later that the fateful click helped lead to 3 hours of your life being lost.  And I’m not even going to address what could happen during the span of a normal office-bound work day.  You only have so much free time, and you wouldn’t mind a little help spending that time wisely. (more…)