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Steve Albini has died

pitchfork.com

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Re: Steve Albini has died

#131

Post by browningstreet »

moomin wrote: post #121
touseol wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t start listening to PJ Harvey until later in her career, but Rid of Me is one of my favorite albums. It had a sort of harshness that put me off at first, but once I got past that it really grew on me, and now that perceived harshness is an inseparable part of the final product for me. I don’t know how much of that to attribute to Albini or what the album might have been with a different producer, but what it…

I love the sound of Rid of Me, with one major exception: the radical volume changes on the title track and Highway 61. I 100% don’t understand what was going on there; it makes it impossible to listen to without riding the volume control and it bears no resemblance to how it was performed live.

A Mogwai album did this to me once, while I was wearing headphones. I’ve never bothered to work through the process where I’d know when and where this would happen so I can listen to them again. I just dropped them.

Despite my phenomenal experience hearing them live in Cambridge MA in the 90s. Loudest band I’ve ever suffered through. But that was live.

Re: Steve Albini has died

#132

Post by spudlyo »

runnr_az wrote: post #43

We all agree that Jawbreaker's "24 Hour Revenge Therapy" was his best production work, right?

Oh my god. I had no idea he produced that. That record is of monumental importance to one of my dearest friends, and hooked me on early Emo in a way that Rites of Spring never could. Going to listen again and try to detect the invisible hand of Albini. What stands out to you about the production?

Re: Steve Albini has died

#133

Post by tptacek »

rurban wrote: post #95
ilamont wrote: post #3

Hard to overstate Albini's influence, both as a musician and producer. Big Black? No one was doing stuff like that in the mid-80s. His production on PJ Harvey's Rid of Me took her compositions to a new level. He also produced a lot of very fine albums in the 80s and 90s by the Pixies (Surfer Rosa), Nirvana (In Utero) and various albums by The Jesus Lizard, Superchunk, and others. Yes, he was cantankerous. Marched to…

He was a legend as musician, and as producer, despite destroying PJ Harvey's Rid of Me. What a major fuckup! Anyway, the way he talked and explained the music business was always legendary.

I don't think there's a single track on the 4-Track Demos that outdoes its sibling on Rid of Me, which is Harvey's best album.

Re: Steve Albini has died

#134

Post by wyclif »

consumer451 wrote: post #60
ilamont wrote: post #3

Hard to overstate Albini's influence, both as a musician and producer. Big Black? No one was doing stuff like that in the mid-80s. His production on PJ Harvey's Rid of Me took her compositions to a new level. He also produced a lot of very fine albums in the 80s and 90s by the Pixies (Surfer Rosa), Nirvana (In Utero) and various albums by The Jesus Lizard, Superchunk, and others. Yes, he was cantankerous. Marched to…

Surfer Rosa was probably the most influential album on my musical life. Albini also has an excellent Nardwuar interview: https://youtu.be/1Vjn8u7HP1o

The sound and production quality of that specific record was really my golden mean for what an alternative rock record should sound like. I especially loved the way he would record the drums, with that open, uncompressed sound. If you listen to most records that came out in the 1980's the drums sound really dated and super-compressed.

Re: Steve Albini has died

#135

Post by marpstar »

Total legend. I never got the chance to interact with him, but I played with a couple of midwest USA bands/musicians who had. Each of them had a different story and perception of him, but everyone agreed he was a kick-ass dude.

For me, much like him, the production side of things was always just as, if not more, alluring as the writing and performing and his no-bullshit approach was a big factor in helping me believe that you could "hack" your way into creating an album with the equipment we already had.

RIP

Re: Steve Albini has died

#136

Post by bluesounddirect »

1000hz was an amazing work of art . Steve’s work will be missed . I always hated how I would hear “ Steve Albini made Nirvana what it was” . That’s such an insult to all of the other bands he worked on . Nirvana sucks and will always be a crappy band .

Re: Steve Albini has died

#137

Post by throwaway743 »

ilamont wrote: post #3

Hard to overstate Albini's influence, both as a musician and producer. Big Black? No one was doing stuff like that in the mid-80s. His production on PJ Harvey's Rid of Me took her compositions to a new level. He also produced a lot of very fine albums in the 80s and 90s by the Pixies (Surfer Rosa), Nirvana (In Utero) and various albums by The Jesus Lizard, Superchunk, and others. Yes, he was cantankerous. Marched to…

So sad to hear of his passing. Atomizer is one of my all time favorite albums. His work is timeless and will carry him on.

Re: Steve Albini has died

#138

Post by telcal »

What could be better than this?

"Shellac agreed to play in my parents' living room in 1993 because I sent them a fax." - Jon Solomon https://www.instagram.com/p/C6t2pvCvhpx/

Jon Solomon is a super DJ who among other things has hosted an annual 25 hour long "Holiday Radio Show" on WPRB over Christmas for the past 35(!) years! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Solomon

Re: Steve Albini has died

#139

Post by throwaway743 »

odiroot wrote: post #80
ilamont wrote: post #3

Hard to overstate Albini's influence, both as a musician and producer. Big Black? No one was doing stuff like that in the mid-80s. His production on PJ Harvey's Rid of Me took her compositions to a new level. He also produced a lot of very fine albums in the 80s and 90s by the Pixies (Surfer Rosa), Nirvana (In Utero) and various albums by The Jesus Lizard, Superchunk, and others. Yes, he was cantankerous. Marched to…

I can really recommend Songs About Fucking by Big Black. Especially their dope version of Kraftwerk's Das Model.

In addition, listen to Atomizer.
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