RockNotes: Irma Thomas, Neko Case & Napalm Death

By Steve Rhodes

1. I find the New Yorker's weekly listings of bands playing shows in New York to be a pretty consistent source of interesting rock info. Here are two items in the current mag that caught my eye:

"Irma Thomas wasn't the first artist to record 'Time Is On My Side.' The trombonist Kai Windig recorded Jerry Ragovoy's tune in 1963. Thomas covered it less than a year later, and that's the version the Rolling Stones heard and then turned into their first Top Ten single in the States."

I did not know that.

Here's the Windig version:

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Here's the Thomas version:

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2. "The British metal gods Napalm Death return to New York armed with 'Time Waits for No Slave,' a stunning new installment in their exhilarating musical ouevre. Founded in 1982 in Birmingham, England (Black Sabbath's home town), these metal pioneers started their career in the anarchist-punk movement before inventing grindcore, a metal subgenre that merged elements of hardcore and metal."

Oh hell, I'm gonna reprint the rest of it. Let 'em sue me, it'd be worth it.

"Napalm Death's innovative style, political lyrics, and exquisite musicianship have garnered them wide appeal, with fans ranging from the local avant-gardist John Zorn to the late British d.j. John Peel. The new album features their trademark style of short, furious songs, impossibly fast drum patterns, and growling, melodyless vocals in all its glory."

Here's "Napalm Death & The History of Grindcore":

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3. And . . . here's an excerpt from Chicago expatriate Neko Case's April 11 show at the Berklee Performance Center, which was followed by two nights at the Nokia Theatre Times Square.

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And so as not to leave you hanging like that, here's a cut from her new record, Middle Cyclone.

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