The Radar Screen
February 15, 2004
by Alexander Washburn

Quit Your Day Job

The baited breath wait is finally over. The new Village Voice "Pazz and Jop" poll is out and even though they didn’t do anything as stupid as saying Wilco had the best record of the year, it’s not exactly a poll worthy of the diverse music New Yorkers embrace. Yeah, the Outkast record is decent, but folks in Indianapolis are jamming to it these days, taking the Atlanta duo far away from the underground and making them about as edgy as an episode of Friends. Justin Timberlake’s album appears so many times in this poll that you think the articles were written on ‘Take Your Daughter to Work’ day. And how could anyone believe that Liz Phair had a better record than say, The Robert Randolph Family Band?

At least we can all take solace in the fact that at least one person, Norman Weinstein, is not asleep at the wheel in the Voice’s “music” department. It was Weinstein’s glowing review of Cedric “IM” Brooks’ Light of Saba, a 19-track musical retrospective of Jamaica’s greatest living jazz star, that was enough reason for Radar Screen to wade head first into the hell that is a chain record store. As much politically and socially charged reggae as Bob Marley, Brooks fuses his music with jazz, Afro-Beat and Latin, demonstrating the ability to take the best of his influences like Sonny Rollins and Sun Ra and layer it on top of that “drink with an umbrella” feel that is reggae music. Light of Saba is truly a magical collection worthy of this visionary. Too bad the geniuses at the Village Voice would rather unnecessary shine the light on Nelly Furtado, Seal, and Jay-Z among others, rather than giving this true music pioneer the recognition he deserves.

Sounds Like Laziness To Me

So, where has Radar Screen been in the two months since the last column? Well, out and about on the prowl for news and updates on some of our Radar Screen favorites, that’s where. Never minding her snub in that sham of a ‘Record of the Year’ column a fellow 2Walls scribe put together, Lauren Fine is back in the studio working on brand new material which is slated for a May release.

Radar Screen also finds out my LA-noshing partner Kaila Yu will grace the pages of FHM Magazine in March. Kaila has been performing all over California and Hawaii recently.

One place Kaila won’t be playing will be Radar Screen’s favorite venue, Tobacco Road, home of the great acoustics and pot-smoking AARP Moms. The former Savoy Lounge has gone the way of the jazz club Smalls and shut its doors for good – making it the third slap in the face to jazz-lovers in New York. Earlier this month, St. Nick’s Pub, the Harlem institution, held its last legendary Monday night jam and also closed its doors forever.

Hey, with the New York jazz clubs down to a minimum, Radar Screen had to head to the suburbs for getting his funk on. Most memorable was Maceo Parker at Mexicali Blues Cafe in sleepy Teaneck, NJ. This pre-New Years show was classic Maceo “2% jazz and 98% funky stuff.” With that much funk on the menu its no wonder that even on a school night Maceo can draw with the best of them. It would be nice however if he learned to pronounce "Teaneck" properly.

Maceo is holding up fine – too bad the same can’t be said for James Brown judging from his recent show at BB King’s. Radar Screen already caught Brown on his pass through NYC last year (Radar Screen 3/03) and it wasn’t pretty. The only saving grace that night was that the show was free. Oh wait – BB King’s was also free and even though it didn’t seem possible, James Brown actually got worse. Can you imagine seeing the Godfather of Soul where the only highlights where chatting at the bar with some lovelies named Joanna and Megan, and being able to walk onto the James Brown tour bus to make a few calls without encountering resistance?

This Month Radar Screen Picks Up

Folkfoot – Dos Hombres. Radar Screen remembers seeing guitarist Bud Lake about three years ago on the Upper West Side back when Cannon’s had live music. His clean, tender folk songs fit perfectly for an evening of Guinness, as Lake’s acoustic, blues guitar drifted through the pub effortless. Bud Lake doesn’t play around the city much these days but thankfully, in between caring for his adorable daughter and tuning pianos he did put some great songs down on record, so every night can feel like pints at Cannon’s. Lake teams up with mandola player George Hill to bring us Dos Hombres, a collection that shows off Lake’s fine song writing and guitar playing. It also welcomes his return to the New York music scene. Folkfoot already played a Valentine’s Night gig back in Radar Screen’s old Hell’s Kitchen hood. The news doesn’t stop there, two Folkfoot tracks off this record are slated to appear on the soundtrack of the Sundance Film Festival hit SuperSize Me! Yeah, Radar Screen can say he knew him “when.”

Prospect Place – Untitled. There’s just enough tragedy in the lyrics: "wanna scream and shout and break your heart. Commit the crime and do the time" to invoke Juliana Hatfield in her Become What You Are days. And enough energy and passion in the music to recall glory days of the Throwing Muses. Prospect Place is one band that Radar Screen picked up a while ago for it seems that these two hotties have disbanded or are just hard to get on email. That’s a shame too, for the catchy hooks that invade this EP, are so infectious that they’ll invade your subconscious by records’ end. "Into the Hole" is a pleasantly drifting song that is beautifully sung, whereas "Never Ends" frenzied pace takes the song to entirely new musical and emotional plane.

Song in the Head

Walking down Mission Street on recent trip to San Francisco, Radar Screen couldn’t get "The New Song" by Townhall out of his head. Perhaps it’s the defiant chorus, “I do anything that, I do want to” or the way they summed up Radar Screen’s school days back when he was a “God darned fool” but Radar Screen found himself belting out lines to the song while walking down the street that made him seem weird. And when folks in San Francisco are thinking you’re weird, you must be pretty damn weird. The weirdness with Townhall doesn’t end there. The group is invading Penn State University opening up for Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Anyone up for road trip?

No Mixed Results for The Good Results

The first note Mariella hit on the Etta James classic ‘At Last’ was all Radar Screen needed to reach this conclusion: that she has better pipes than James Brown’s wife who performed the same song at his boring BB King’s show. “At Last” wasn’t the only classic song Mariella and her band The Good Results interpreted with well, good results. The group blew through covers of "What’s Going On?” as well as the Mary J. Blige hit "Real Love” (which Radar Screen swore was a Jody Watley song) with ease. When not taking us down memory lane with classic covers, The Good Results laid down originals like "Urban Summer" where Mariella flows like Erykah Badu. The Good Results light up with Freestyle Monday’s every Monday at Sin-Sin in the East Village and on Wednesday’s at Mr. Biggs in Hell’s Kitchen. If you can’t catch these shows be on the lookout for the new record the band is conceiving in Philly.

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Liner notes: Are you an indie artist looking to be picked up on Radar? Got a show in the NYC area you'd like us to check out? Email Radar Screen at: radarscreen@2walls.com