Steve Albini

Started by uwe, May 08, 2024, 04:36:43 PM

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uwe

I knew his name and the Nirvana connection, not much else, but I'm sure the Indie/Alt Rock world will be in mourning, RIP:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/08/steve-albini-us-alt-rock-musician-and-producer-dies-aged-61
We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

Ken

This one makes me really sad.  I thought he had a great attitude.  He did great work and wouldn't take royalties because he believed that he got paid for the work he did and that was it.  Our band is going to do some recording and I mentioned I knew it was unrealistic, but it would be amazing to do it with Albini.  They said it could be done.  I loved knowing it was a possibility.  And his band Shellac was great.  I saw them in 2018 and it was fantastic.

gearHed289

Very cool guy and local legend. I liked his work with the Jesus Lizard. RIP.

Alanko

He was in a band called Rapeman and was altogether far too enthusiastic about images of child sexual abuse. If I was feeling generous i would say he was clearly a bit neurodivergent and trying far too hard to mine new depths of shock value. But I'm not feeling generous; he was a chronically overrated hipster and his music sounded terrible. Like being locked in a filing cabinet full of loose cutlery and being kicked down a metal fire escape.

Ken

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I try not to judge someone about things they said and did in their '20s, especially when they later acknowledge them, like is mentioned in this Guardian article.

"... he founded his next band Rapeman in 1987. Named after a Japanese manga, it was perhaps the most high-profile example of Albini's eagerness to prod and provoke, and he later expressed regret for the band name, calling it "flippant"."

"Possessed of a gleefully scabrous sense of humour, Albini riled up plenty of artists and fans alike with insults and provocations – such as jokingly dedicating a Big Black single to the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. He became contrite in later years, saying in a viral thread on Twitter in 2021: "A lot of things I said and did from an ignorant position of comfort and privilege are clearly awful and I regret them.""

uwe

Quote from: Alanko on May 09, 2024, 04:26:45 PM
He was in a band called Rapeman and was altogether far too enthusiastic about images of child sexual abuse. If I was feeling generous i would say he was clearly a bit neurodivergent and trying far too hard to mine new depths of shock value. But I'm not feeling generous; he was a chronically overrated hipster and his music sounded terrible. Like being locked in a filing cabinet full of loose cutlery and being kicked down a metal fire escape.

Ok, some (s)obitchuary, but I'm sure, Alan, there must have been some small things too you perhaps did not like that much about him;D
We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

gearHed289

Quote from: Alanko on May 09, 2024, 04:26:45 PMtrying far too hard to mine new depths of shock value

It's a good thing nobody here tries to do that.  :rolleyes:

uwe

#7
I'm not even remotely applying that to me!
We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

saltymonkey

This is a pretty great article Albini wrote on the exploitive signing practices of major labels.

https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music

And the letter he wrote to Nirvana after being courted to record In Utero. Both are worth a read.

https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/nirvana