Steve Albini ! RIP !

https://pitchfork.com/news/steve-albini-storied-producer-and-icon-of-the-rock-underground-dies-at-61/

Oh my, mate has just texted me the awful news that Steve Albini has died 🙁

Legendary producer, guitarist and vocalist. Hard to pick a highlight, but I think this was the first thing I heard by Big Black

Most beautiful harsh guitar sound ever

(vid changed cos of swear)

No **** way! That’s really sad. What a guy.

Saw Shellac in Cardiff 2015’ish, great gig, even though I was stood (as ever) to the drunkest member of the audience who just shouted ‘STEEEEVE’ through the whole thing Was going to get tickets for later this year at the Fleece.

RIP

Nooooo!

he produced some of my favourite records from PJ Harvey, Nirvana and the Breeders all the way through to Ben Frost and Sunn 0)))

shellac have a new record out next week as well. 😭

Sad, and unexpected news – RIP. Leaves some legacy behind him.

RIP. Great musician & engineer, funny guy.

How to cook potatoes. @ 2:30

In tribute, I’m gonna cook some potatoes just like that

Oh no! A genuine innovator, not afraid of what people thought of his work, did it the way he wanted to do it.

Rid of Me is Polly Harvey’s best album and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

Ah man, sorry to hear this. He was a smart guy and I would have hoped to hear his take on stuff for a lot longer yet.

How to cook potatoes. @ 2:30

I love the way the other two guys just start having a chat while Steve goes off on one 😅

Completely shocked, similarly heard through a mate and was not expected.

I’ll get out the vinyl of 1000 hurts tonight and stick it on LOUD. And in his honour I’ll drop kick the CD that comes loose packed (ie not protected at all) in the box that the vinyl comes in.

No way, so unfair. First came across him with Big Black and then he went on to produce many of my favourite albums as I was growing up. Can’t believe he’s gone at 61.

🙁

Came for Nirvana, stayed for loads of other artists he worked with.

Seamonsters by The Wedding Present is my favourite thing he did. Rest in Peace.

Absolute legend beynd the studio as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/15/the-evolution-of-steve-albini-if-the-dumbest-person-is-on-your-side-youre-on-the-wrong-side

He has not exactly become mild-mannered with age – “However you define ‘woke,’ anti-woke means being a **** who wants to indulge bigots,” he wrote recently – but these days he also says things like: “Life is hard on everybody and there’s no excuse for making it harder. I’ve got the easiest job on earth, I’m a straight white dude, **** me if I can’t make space for everybody else.”

Proper sad, the music he made and produced (engineered?) were absolutely formative for me.

…we’ll be lucky if I don’t bust out cryin’.

Fairly recent Guardian interview.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/15/the-evolution-of-steve-albini-if-the-dumbest-person-is-on-your-side-youre-on-the-wrong-side

Managed to catch him at the Astoria (supporting Sonic Youth) and in Embra back in ‘88 in the above guise.

Hated the band name, but Steve was both a **** genius and a idiot at the same time.

He leaves some body of work!

Some place is gonna be **** loud tonight.

Turn it up!

RIP

…we’ll be lucky if I don’t bust out cryin’.

This isn’t some kind of metaphor,
Goddamn, this is real.

Awful news.

Absolutely gutted at this one.

Groundbreaking producer of our times. And yes, predominantly an engineer too, ran a pretty low key and accessible studio all the way through his career and was just happy to be involved in capturing raw energy to recording, and he did that like pretty much no other. Sad day for music.

Marc Maron interviewed him a few years ago, he’ll probably put it back up tomorrow but you can still find it if you search for it. He recorded the soundtrack of my late teens. I feel old.

I’m totally gutted – an inspirational guitar player and a great recording engineer and a great attitude!

Favourite album ever is Atomizer – hence the username!  So much of my record collection involved him – Neurosis, Joanna Newsom, Low, PJ Harvey, even Robert Plant, so many others.
Saw Shellac in Clapham many years ago, just superb.

Bugger. A real loss to music.

Very sad this one. Been… enjoying’s not the right word, but appreciating? the constant stream of bands I like on my FB that he worked with, but far more than that all the ones that he never actually worked with but who he made recommendations and introductions for with other producers, he was far more influential than the credits suggest (and he was a sort of uncredited “album doctor” for a lot of bands, not producing but just reviewing and making suggestions and recommendations)

Shellac were about to release an album and play some dates in UK/Europe. I was just about to buy tickets. 🙁

https://pitchfork.com/news/shellac-announce-first-new-album-in-a-decade/

a fascinating studio diagram for the music nerds here:

https://twitter.com/jbzingo/status/1788253652836081673/photo/1

relating in particular to the recording of this track – https://open.spotify.com/track/5Plx6OhvSukqCRdZ52wUXz?si=YSo5WzZbQ1WqviN3Ik3EKg&nd=1&dlsi=e41a139ec9a74e8d

Anybody who worked on Surfer Rosa, is a star to me. Also the guy is a couple of months younger than me, that gave me pause for thought.
R.I.P

https://thequietus.com/articles/34131-steve-albini-obituary