SJ Esau - 'Part Of A Diagram' [2009]

SJ Esau - I Threw A Wobbly [2008]

Mark-Almond - The Best Of Mark-Almond

One of my weaknesses, left over from an adolescence rooted in the 70s, is a guilty fondness for latenight, mellow, stoner, noodling jams. Call it bong-longing.

So the other day, as I'm cruising in my auto, flicking my way through the Sirius channels, I hit upon their retro FM station and a track I swear I haven't heard in 30 years. Though it was literally the middle of a sunny day and I was as sober as Mitt Romney, I was suddenly transported to the basement of Jon Mitchell's house circa 1979, sucking deeply from his enormous bong (affectionately referred to as "Godzilla"), with cheap Sears speakers lulling the five us with the latin rhythms and 12 string guitar strums of The City. It was both nostalgic and funny. Ahh, the things we do in youth.

There's a thread of mellow stoner music that runs from Pink Floyd through Mark-Almond on to the Beta Band and beyond. It is almost always mildly prog-rock, occasionally jazz-tinged, long tracked, and usually, but not always (see Beta Band), sonically pristine. And, it is almost always rather pointless in the grand scheme of things - the audio equivalent of oreo cookies when the munchies roll in. But damn if it doesn't hit the spot when the Jimmy Cliff glows in the bowl.

This is a comp put together by Rhino in 1990. It pulls together all the noodling of these two Johns (Mark and Almond), both former John Mayall sidemen, including the nostalgia-inducing, The City, the last portion of which could have come directly off Beta Band's 3 EPs.

Load a bowl, or just remember the last one you did, and crack those oreos.

Hear