by JAY WATTS III

There’s little more worthwhile than searching for the transcendent mindfuck, the everlasting stone, “feeling good all the time.” Alex Abramovich, of Moistworks, has edited a succinct group of eight tracks about the difficulty of swinging clean living and the plush comfort of time spent under the influence. It’s at www.moistworks.com/2006/08/sugar-man-sixto-rodriguez-cold-fact.html.

Sixto Rodriguez, Nina Simone, the Kinks, Neil Diamond, Miriam Makeba, Peter Tosh, the Pharcyde and old school rappers Fly Guys are represented. South African songstress Miriam Makeba’s “Quit It” is my favourite—with that ubiquitous grainy fuzzed-out guitar, an aural indicator of the schizophrenic state induced by substance abuse, the staple of many a drug-related song, and that killer intro lick, I’m surprised that this hasn’t been sampled yet (or if it has and I’m just a douchebag who gets his info from MySpace and Wikipedia, e-mail me).

Neil Diamond’s “The Pot Smoker’s Song” reveals why he’s endured in the destructive music industry: straight-shooting. His cautionary polemic about gettin’ hip juxtaposes “scared straight”-style speeches from ex-junkies, with innocent Neil and children chiding the tuned-in drop-out for the follies of his ways.

Bobby Gillespie and his seasoned associates in Primal Scream (Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine, Mani from the Stone Roses and Will Sargeant) know a thing or two about pills and associated thrills, and have just recently dropped “Riot City Blues.” Stripped, bare, bluesy, this album has much in common with ’94’s “Give Out But Don’t Give Up,” which scored classic rock radio play with sleazy Stones throwaway number “Rocks Off.” Truthfully, this effort is a disappointment after I’ve spent the last little while expecting a progression from the blistering genius of “XTRMNTR,” but I guess British music is still in a back-to-basics phase. Don’t know, haven’t read the NME in years. You can grab “The 99th Floor” at the Daily Growl (www.thedailygrowl.blogspot.com/2006/06/best-of-june.html) and “Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar” at Culture Bully (www.culturebully.com/archives/976).

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