Goodbye Steve Albini, you sonic wizard. The obituaries have rightly praised the music legend as a brilliant producer and musician. What I found most fascinating though, were his many contradictions. He wrote offensive lyrics and named his band Rapeman after the manga comic, but championed many female feminist artists. His music was pure punk; but he refused to work with artists on the basis of their receiving royalties, but rather through a flat fee.
He was uncompromising and honest, and apologised for being “a bad person” when he went too far. He was also a musical genius. Would Pixies’ Surfer Rosa be as fun without the studio banter? Would Big Black have been as effective without those slice and dice guitars? Or PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me as exciting without feeling punch drunk when listening to it? I doubt it. It’s a massive loss. He was a one-off, and it feels like the end of an era, in a strange way.
Hit The North 