And over the course of four hours, my advisors presented an analysis of where the economy at that time stood, accompanied by a chilling set of charts and graphs, predicting where we might end up.

WHITEHOUSE: Job Creation and Economic Growth

While he could have made a spiffy set of charts, Larsen claims that there are certain parameters, like sunlight and temperature, that give the data a structure that lends itself to musical representation.

ENGADGET: Microbial music: Using sound to represent data from the deep blue sea

His 1995 album Stanley Road and 2002's Illumination both topped the U.K. charts, and last year, he released a four-disc box set of amazing singles, dating back to his days with The Jam.

NPR: Paul Weller: A Britpop Titan Lives On

That, in turn, has set off a race among companies like SpotCrime to turn crime data into mash-ups of maps and analytics, producing charts and graphs in Web-friendly formats.

FORBES: Colin Drane wants to be the kingpin of criminal data.

At the office of Realty ONE Group, salesman Kurt Lehman mulls over another set of charts and graphs, ones that show Las Vegas home sales down nearly 40 percent compared to a year ago.

NPR: Real Estate: A Long Suit in Vegas?