RIP Steve Albini

[drumsound]

There's a thread on the People/Places forum, but I think this news is too big to not be mentioned where most people on our forum hang out. Steve was 61 and died of a heart attack.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=91115

[Dok]

It's legitimately insane how many of my favorite records he was involved in. The way that his work has measurably impacted my life, without me even trying to seek out his work, is impossible to accurately quantify. And the fact that he was an open book - so willing to share his knowledge and reflect upon/repudiate some of his past points of view is also second to none. He stomped the terra.

[T-rex]

I just saw this on Reddit. Wow, he was too young to die of a heart attack. I did not expect to see this today.

He did a bunch of the Louisville bands, notably Slint and Crain. He claimed to not impart a sound but from the first snare hit you knew immediately if he recorded it.

[vvv]

I never met him more than "hi" but saw Big Black back in the day, heard a ton of stories.

Besides a great producer of many of my fave recordings, he was quite the character - I liked his food blogging, as well.

RIP.

[Jarvis]

Dang!
Rock in Peace

[Scodiddly]

Not really a fan of the music, but he definitely did things his way and was a good voice to push back against conventional wisdom.

And that he more recently was able to publicly be critical of his own past behavior speaks a great deal about his character.

[vvv]

local FOX news is doing a piece on him as I type

[MoreSpaceEcho]

from the first snare hit you knew immediately if he recorded it.

I posted this on the Electrical board earlier:

Many years ago, my girlfriend picks me up in her car. She's listening to The Wedding Present. I've never heard them. 20 seconds in I say "damn, this sounds really good!" 10 seconds after that I say "this sounds like Steve Albini recorded it." Girlfriend gives me a seriously dubious eyebrow and says "you can listen to something for 30 seconds and know who recorded it?" I replied "I can when it's Steve."

We get to our destination, she pops the cd out, and printed right on it: "Produced by Steve Albini".

Sometime after that, it's a Saturday afternoon and I'm trying to take a nap, but I can't cause my roommate is cranking the tunes in the living room. All I can hear through the wall is the low end of the bass drum but I think "that sure sounds like a bass drum recorded by Steve Albini". Later I ask what he was listening to: "oh that was an outtake from In Utero"

There's lots of records that sound good on a boombox, but lots of those records sound considerably less good when you listen to them under the operating room lights in a mastering room. You don't need me to tell you that Steve's records sound fucking amazing in a mastering room and everywhere else. In my opinion his work stands apart from literally everyone else.

I never met him but he was a huge influence on me as an engineer and as a musician. But far more than that, he was an shining example of How To Be, and I'm so, so thankful to have had him as a role model.

My favorite Shellac song has always been "Ghosts" and that title is making me a little sadder than I already am.

[T-rex]

from the first snare hit you knew immediately if he recorded it.

I posted this on the Electrical board earlier:

Many years ago, my girlfriend picks me up in her car. She's listening to The Wedding Present. I've never heard them. 20 seconds in I say "damn, this sounds really good!" 10 seconds after that I say "this sounds like Steve Albini recorded it." Girlfriend gives me a seriously dubious eyebrow and says "you can listen to something for 30 seconds and know who recorded it?" I replied "I can when it's Steve."

We get to our destination, she pops the cd out, and printed right on it: "Produced by Steve Albini".

That’s hilarious. She didn’t grasp your secret super power!

Yeah. It’s almost every instrument from snare to guitar tones. No other production sounds like that.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

I'm finding comfort in the thought of Garges talking Steve's ear off right now.

[Recycled_Brains]

from the first snare hit you knew immediately if he recorded it.

I posted this on the Electrical board earlier:

Many years ago, my girlfriend picks me up in her car. She's listening to The Wedding Present. I've never heard them. 20 seconds in I say "damn, this sounds really good!" 10 seconds after that I say "this sounds like Steve Albini recorded it." Girlfriend gives me a seriously dubious eyebrow and says "you can listen to something for 30 seconds and know who recorded it?" I replied "I can when it's Steve."

We get to our destination, she pops the cd out, and printed right on it: "Produced by Steve Albini".

Sometime after that, it's a Saturday afternoon and I'm trying to take a nap, but I can't cause my roommate is cranking the tunes in the living room. All I can hear through the wall is the low end of the bass drum but I think "that sure sounds like a bass drum recorded by Steve Albini". Later I ask what he was listening to: "oh that was an outtake from In Utero"

There's lots of records that sound good on a boombox, but lots of those records sound considerably less good when you listen to them under the operating room lights in a mastering room. You don't need me to tell you that Steve's records sound fucking amazing in a mastering room and everywhere else. In my opinion his work stands apart from literally everyone else.

I never met him but he was a huge influence on me as an engineer and as a musician. But far more than that, he was an shining example of How To Be, and I'm so, so thankful to have had him as a role model.

My favorite Shellac song has always been "Ghosts" and that title is making me a little sadder than I already am.

Couldn't have said it better. I was just talking to a friend last week about how he is maybe the only Engineer where I can instantly tell it's his work without actually knowing it.

PJ Harvey, Neurosis, In Utero, Nina Nastasia, Magnolia Electric... I could go on forever about the number of records he's been a part of that changed my outlook on music and life and how records can sound. I can remember where I was and who I was with the first time I heard the drum intro to "Scentless Apprentice" and not knowing what to with myself. Thinking back, it was certainly one of the first instances as a young person where I needed to know how that sounded the way it does. Neurosis's "Given to the Rising" is my favorite sounding record ever and he tracked and mixed the entire thing in FIVE fucking days. So inspiring.

He was so was accessible too. You could be a whatever local band and have the dude that recorded "Rid of Me" as an engineer. Insane.

Never met him, but am going to miss getting excited about new projects he was a part of and his uniquely dry way of sharing his knowledge. Big loss for the universe.

[drumsound]

I'm finding comfort in the thought of Garges talking Steve's ear off right now.

Along with Mark Rubel. At one point Mark's goal was to have all of the same quirky instruments as Steve. I remember going to Pogo once and he was excited because he'd just gotten a little spinet piano he was going to make into a tack piano because he'd used one at a session at Electrical shortly before that.

[floid]

Heavy loss for our types.