A bevy of links this week.
Rolling Stone gets it wrong a lot. But it’s good to see that there are enough Gen Xers on the staff these days to proclaim 1984 as the best year for pop music ever. Have fun reading through their top 100 singles for the year. Man, was Prince on fire back then.
100 Best Singles of 1984: Pop’s Greatest Year
While on the topic of music, Matt Gemmell writes about all kinds of topics, but mostly technology related issues. I enjoy those posts, but I really like when he writes about the personal. Here, he writes about his favorite song of all time. You would be correct if you guessed this sent me to my notebook to scribble down ideas for a similar post of my own.
Mat Honan is becoming a bit of a regular in these weekly posts. Here is his terrific ode to the now departed iPod Classic.
For ten years my iPod—in various incarnations—was my constant companion. It went with me on road trips and backpacking through the wilderness. I ran with it. I swam with it. (In a waterproof case!) I listened to sad songs that reminded me of friends and family no longer with me. I made a playlist for my wife to listen to during the birth of our first child, and took the iPod with us to the hospital. I took one to a friend’s wedding in Denmark, where they saved money on a DJ by running a four hour playlist, right from my iPod. And because the party lasted all night, they played it again.
As I’ve been dipping my toes into the deep pool of Ryan Adams’ musical output, I’ve been reading a lot about him. Rather conveniently, this lengthy profile of the enigmatic and prolific artist appeared last week.
At Home, Kinda, With Ryan Adams
Finally, a really well researched and written article about Christopher Knight, the man who disappeared into the Maine wilderness and lived for nearly 30 years with almost no contact with other humans and only a well-hidden tent for protection from the elements.