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EPASteve Albini at a Shellac performance
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 12:07
The music industry is like a 200 foot ditch full of shit, thought Steve Albini. Artists are forced to struggle through it, all the while fighting colleagues, on their way to a record deal on the other side. But once there, the winner is told: “You still have to develop something. Please go back, in backstroke.”
The artist and recording leader, who died at the age of 61, fought against the commercialization of music his entire life. With his unequivocal opinion he often made enemies, but also brought success to artists such as Nirvana, Manic Street Preachers, Bush, the Pixies and PJ Harvey.
It was his mission to always stay as close as possible to the sound that a band had in mind. Digital recording was taboo, no fiddling with post-processing, as little influence as possible from above. “We put the record on in a few days, high quality but minimal ‘production’ and no interference from the suits from the head office,” was the proposal that Nirvana made for their – as it turned out – last album In Utero.
Arson and child abuse
Pasadena-born Albini had come into contact with the punk scene as a student in Chicago. At a time when many indie bands were willing to trade their credibility for widespread success, the unruly Albini seemed to do everything he could to remain commercially ‘radioactive’. “Everyone’s trying to get on MTV, so we’re doing the exact opposite.”
So a band name like Rapeman, bloody cover photos and songs about child abuse and the fun of arson. Albini made himself heard with misogynistic, racist and homophobic lyrics and harsh criticism of colleagues who were said to be too flexible. All to reject authority and kick against power.
Albini also applied his philosophy to the albums of hundreds of other artists. His refreshing uncompromise made him irresistible as a recording leader for alt-rockers in the ’90s. He recorded The Pixies’ first album, worked with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and helped Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker with his solo career.
Broken guitar
For the recordings of In Utero he helped Releasing Nirvana from the suffocating fame the band had found with Nevermind. The work took place in relative anonymity in a studio outside Minneapolis. Albini deceived fans, paparazzi and drug dealers by booking the studio under the name Simon Richie, the real name of original punk Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols.
Albini was an idol for Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In his youth, he had once acquired a piece of a guitar that Albini had smashed during a performance, a trophy that he proudly took with him to the recordings.
As with other albums, Albini refused to be named producer in the sleeve text. He thought producers were just scroungers who described music with meaningless descriptions such as warm, punchy, groove of vibe“so that their clients think they know what they are doing.”
Albini preferred a serving role as technician, with only one line “recorded by Steve Albini”. As always, he also waived the usual royalty arrangement, with which he would share in the millions of profits from the record in perpetuity. He felt it was impossible to continue to profit from the success of an artist, “although my wife thinks otherwise”.
Expression of regret
In later years, Albini continued to tour with his noise rock band Shellac, described by Paradiso at a concert last year as a “minimalist rock trio with a serious disinterest in the rules of the music world”. A new album from the band is planned for later this month.
Although he remained true to his roots, Albini caused a stir and admiration in 2021 to apologize on X for offensive statements from his past. “We thought we were not harming anyone with contrariness, shock, sarcasm and irony,” he analyzed. “A lot of it came from ignorance of privilege and convenience and I regret that.”
On his musical legacy, Albini, who died of a heart attack on Tuesday, was characteristically pronounced. “I don’t give a shit.”
