last.fm logoI've had the unfortunate luck of having to work the last two weekends in a row (my own fault), but it hasn't all been bad as I've listened to a lot of great music for free and without any adverts or DJ chat thanks to Last.fm.

I've been a last.fm member for quite some time, but haven't actually used it for much more than installing iScrobbler plugin for iTunes. I think I may have signed up for last.fm with the idea that I'd display my listening habits etc on this site, but as you can see, I've not actually done anything more about it.

Anyway. When on shifts, people bring in all sorts of devices including portable DVD players, laptops and portable games consoles like the Nintento DS Lite to keep themselves occupied during the quiet periods. I normally just bring in my iPod and listen to music whilst I work cases or surf the net or code. Unfortunately, this has the side effect in that the iPod battery tends to die long before it's time to go home, or I get bored of listening to my own music, and this is where Last.fm came in.

Last weekend my iPod did it's usual "battery going flat" trick so I thought I'd see what I could find online to listen to. I wasn't in the mood for normal radio as I just wanted music. No talking, no adverts, no jingles, just good music streaming until I got sick and tired of listening to music or went home; whichever came first. A quick search soon reminded me of Last.fm and it's music player.

So off I went. I logged into my Last.fm account to find that, thanks to my iScrobbler submissions, there were a whole stack of recommendations, known and unknown artists, of the kind of music the Last.fm service thought I'd be interested in listening to. Rather than doing any searching by genre or artist, I just chose to listen to the "Your Recommendations" station, and what a good choice. There was a fab selection of tunes to listen to. Granted, not all of it was my cup of tea, but that's not a problem as I just moved on to the next track within the player.

This weekend I've done pretty much the same thing - open up a browser, go straight to Last.fm and start listening. Today I thought I'd have a change and listen to the "Music like John Mayer" station (obtained by searching for "John Mayer") and what a great selection of music.

If you're a bit bored of your own music, fancy discovering something new, or just want to fill the silence around you with a bit of music, head over to Last.fm, register, and get listening.

If you're interested, my listening profile is here.