Music Plasma Browser

I discovered the AWS-powered Music Plasma browser today. The technical description of this application is “freaking cool.” It is a Flash application which provides a slick 2-D visualization of the relationship between bands:

It is really easy to use. Type in the name of a band and hit Enter. The band is displayed, linked to other bands (apparently using Amazon similarities), for a total of 3 levels (the original band, the bands similar to it, and then the bands similar to those). I cannot figure out the logic behind the size of the circles. At first I thought it was related to the number of albums, but it may in fact be related to the number of connections to other bands.

The result is stylish and compelling.

I don’t know if it is making direct AWS calls as I click, or if it is downloading some pre-fetched data and perhaps some layout information.

I don’t see the obvious similarities between Synergy (a favorite since high school) and Jethro Tull (what is an aqualung, anyway?), but perhaps I am just thick.

The forthcoming version 4 release of AWS is going to enable even more cool applications like this. Stay tuned!