If you notice people staring into their iPhones in strange places in the coming months, don't presume they're your usual over-networked addicts. Presume instead they're deep in The Silent History.

Sixto Rodriguez's story has all the ingredients for a great doco. The remarkable musician recorded two seminal albums in the 1970s and then dropped into obscurity, only to be revived by fans in apartheid South Africa.

Jesse Pearson's personal blog can suck the hours from an afternoon.

Zach Condon, the absurdly talented instrumental polymath behind Beirut, is the latest subject of Pitchfork's 5-10-15-20 series, where artists talk about their musical influences at the ages of 5, 10, 15 and... well, you can probably work out the rest.