Thursday, 10 March 2011
Map of The Internet
Non-Geek Version – The Map of the Internet is a visual representation of all the networks around the world that are interconnected to form the Internet as we know it today. These include small and large Internet service providers (ISPs), Internet exchange points, university networks, and organization networks such as Facebook and Google. The size of the nodes and the thickness of the lines speak to the size of those particular providers and the network connections in relation to one another.
Geek Version – You’re looking at all the autonomous systems that make up the Internet. Each autonomous system is a network operated by a single organization, and has routing connections to some number of neighboring autonomous systems. The image depicts a graph of 19,869 autonomous system nodes, joined by 44,344 connections. The sizing and layout of the autonomous systems are based on their eigenvector centrality, which is a measure of how central to the network each autonomous system is: an autonomous system is central if it is connected to other autonomous systems that are central. This is the same graph-theoretical concept that forms the basis of Google’s PageRank algorithm.
Via
Interactive version
HERE
Disappears @ La Route du Rock 2/18/11
Carving out a space somewhere in the middle of garage-punk snarl, shoegaze haze, and Krautrock grooves, Chicago’s Disappears features Brian Case (also of the Ponys and 90 Day Men), Boas members Graeme Gibson and Jonathan van Herik, and Damon Carruesco. The band started when Case’s other groups were on hiatus and he was recording demos with Gibson; Gibson brought van Herik into the project, and in turn, van Herik brought Carruesco into the fold. Soon after forming, the band self-released a series of 7" singles with artwork based on Can’s album Delay 1968, and made their material available for free on the Internet. Disappears began recording their debut studio album and signed to Touch & Go, appearing at the label’s showcase at 2009’s South by Southwest Festival, and also playing dates with Tortoise, Deerhunter, and Times New Viking. The band released 100 CD-Rs of Live Over the Rainbo, a live album from the Deerhunter/Times New Viking tour, that was eventually distributed by Plus Tapes and Rococco Records later in 2009. Disappears continued to play more high-profile Chicago shows, including a gig at the Pitchfork Music Festival and a 2009 New Year’s Eve show with the Jesus Lizard. Late in the year, the band moved to Kranky Records, who released their official debut album Lux in 2010. The band also recorded a single with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and the noise duo White/Light. Disappears took a sleeker, more psychedelic approach on 2011's Guider (Heather Phares)
Artists: Graeme Gibson, Jonathan van Herik, Brian Case, Damon Carruesco, Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth)
http://www.myspace.com/disappearsmusic
directlink
Lucinda Williams - Blessed (2011 - Albumstream)
From its cover in, Lucinda Williams' Blessed stands out. It title is readily visible in color photographs of anonymous citizens holding handmade signs, yet her name appears nowhere but the spine. The songs on Blessed are equally jarring: they offer sophisticated changes in her lyric oeuvre, extending their reach beyond first-person narratives of unrequited love and loss. She adorns these new tomes with roots rock and blues melodies dynamically illustrated by Don Was' sure-handed production (with assistance from Eric Liljestrand and husband Tom Overby. Her voice is front and center, but Was pushes an edgy, tight backing band -- fueled by Greg Leisz's and Val McAllum's guitars and Rami Jaffee's B-3 -- to frame it in greasy, easy grooves. Some guests who appeared on 2008's Little Honey -- notably Matthew Sweet and Elvis Costello -- return here. Set opener "Buttercup" is a rollicking kiss-off to a former boyfriend in which Williams simply lays out the truth as she sees it amid a strident rock & roll cadence. The guitars swell and fade while the B-3 swirls around her voice and the low-end drums hammer her vocal accents home. On the overdriven "Seeing Black," written for the late Vic Chesnutt, Williams, buoyed by an uncharacteristically scorching guitar break from Costello, offers no judgment; she simply questions his spirit as she struggles to accept the loss. Acceptance is a key theme on Blessed; it's voiced in the languid country rock of "I Don't Know How You're Living," with its pledge of unconditional love and support, and in the rumbling, explosive "Awakening." (An extension of "Atonement" from World Without Tears). But there's a militancy that's insisted upon here: it testifies to the willingness and resilience of the human heart. "Soldier's Song," written from a serviceman's point of view in a war zone, juxtaposes home and the new place he finds himself standing. In the late-night blues of "Born to Be Loved" and in the garagey title track, Williams employs repetitive, poetic lyrics that could be chanted as well as sung; in her honeyed Louisiana drawl, however, they become as sensual as a sunset in late summer. The two love songs near the record's end alternately express raw need and abundance. The unabashed humility in pleading on "Convince Me" is signified by a Southern R&B groove. "Kiss Like Your Kiss" closes the set two cuts later -- in waltz time -- by expressing gratitude for the abundant romantic love her protagonist experiences. It's painted by washes of lilting guitars, strings, and vibes. Blessed is Williams' most focused recording since World Without Tears; it stands with it and her 1988 self-titled Rough Trade as one of her finest recordings to date. Its shift in lyric focus is amplified by the care and detail in the album's production and crackling energy. By deliberately shifting to a harder-edged roots rock sonic palette, Blessed moves Williams music down the road from the dead-end Americana ghetto without compromising her qualities as a songwriter or performer.
(Thom Jurek - allmusic; 4/5)
Albumstream
Why is vinyl special to you?
Interviews of people at a record fair in Eugene, Oregon. They discuss why vinyl records are important to them.
via
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Faust to play Melbourne
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
The Forum
Fri 10 June at 8.30pm
Arguably the most significant of all Krautrock groups, legendary German band Faust's influence continues to reverberate across the generations. 2011 is the fortieth anniversary of the band's formation and they continue to perform around the world, resisting easy categorisation and demonstrating the same curiosity and cacophony that so entranced audiences upon their debut.
As a founding member noted in 1973, "The idea was not to copy anything going on in the Anglo-Saxon rock scene – and it worked." They weren't just empty words – the band's '71 debut, Faust, was issued on clear vinyl in a transparent sleeve. It set the tone for their career of uncompromising innovation. They are unselfconsciously avant-garde, wrestling tone and rhythm to create astounding noise.
An enduring influence on countless artists from the British punk and new wave scene onward, don't miss this night of divine sensory overload. Faust make their Australian debut as guests of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Facebook a top cause of relationship trouble, say US lawyers gu.com/p/2njv6/tw ho hum, makes a change from spreading syphilis I suppose
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