Rodriguez: Searching for Sugar Man (Sony)

Taken independently of the acclaimed doco which gives this collection its title, these songs may still sound to many like some stoner Dylan '65 full of tripped out folk-cum-soul poetic strangeness (Crucify Your Mind) or drugged ennui (Sugar Man).

Rodriguez had one very good album in Cold Fact, another of lesser returns (Coming From Reality) and that was his career. Gone in about 18 months, although as most will know the legend grew and his albums were snapped up in South Africa and Australia (and lesserly in New Zealand).

Given there was also an "at his best" floating around for a while in the Eighties and that his two original albums were re-issued by Light in the Attic as recently as three years ago, you'd assume most people now might have heard about him and this music.

But we should never underestimate the power of a good doco and a mystery.

However this beautifully remastered 14-song collection (almost identical to At His Best) might just bring his distinctive sound to even more, and that can only be a good thing. He was something else, and in I Wonder he had a pop song which should have been a massive radio hit . . . if he hadn't mentioned giving head in the first line.

The learning curve on Sixto Rodriguez and his stoned -- but frequently insightful (the Dylanesque Establishment Blues) -- street-poet persona begins here.