Shellac will not perform this year, as it has done in up to fifteen editions, at the festival Primavera Sound of Barcelona, which is celebrated at the end of May. Its leader, Steve Albini, has died at the age of 61 due to a heart attack, according to several music media. It was already a tradition for Albini to take the stage at the festival, even performing a double in some editions. But beyond Shellac and other bands in which he was a member, Albini will be remembered as a key figure in American alternative rock due to his role as a producer.
“My goal is to record albums that kick ass.” That was Steve Albini’s motto and he carried it out working with a good part of American alternative rock in the eighties and especially in the nineties, with productions for essential albums of those years such as In Utero, from Nirvana; Pink Surfer, of the Pixies, Rid of Me, by PJ Harvey, or Pod, by The Breeders.
For 24 hours the Primavera Sound website will look with an image of Albini and two years: 1962-2024. You will not be able to buy tickets for the imminent edition or check other types of information. Only the image of the musician who has performed the most times at the festival. “We are devastated. It has been a surprise. Albini is like family. He knew a lot about music, but he was also a fan. It was common to find him watching other groups in the audience,” Joan Pons, press officer for the festival, told this newspaper.
Steve Albini was born in Pasadena, California, in 1962, and spent his adolescence in Missoula, Montana, where he became fond of bands such as the New York Dolls, Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Already in Chicago, he studied journalism and began collaborating with punk publications, in addition to helping in recording studios. His first serious band was Big Black, a steamroller that already made clear the sound Albini was looking for: dry, sharp, basic. His first work as a producer that brought him fame was the debut of the Pixies, Pink Surfer, in 1988. This album became the perfect example of what alternative rock would be, a work that has not ceased to be claimed. Albini’s style was about stripping rock to its bones, peeling back the layers, getting to the essence and leaving room for imperfections. That’s what Nirvana was looking for in 1993 for their album. In Utero, and that’s why they claimed Albini. Working with Kurt Cobain’s band was not relaxed. Albini, a guy who hated most things surrounding the music industry, had to see how many people outside the band had their opinions and wanted to point a way. He, stubborn, did not give in. “If an album takes more than a week to record, someone is screwing up,” he said.
In the end, an engineer unrelated to Albini remixed two songs to give them a more commercial feel, Heart Shaped Box and All Apologies. This action, approved by the band, caused Nirvana to break up with Albini. Years later, however, the producer had reconciled himself with the recording of In Utero and declared: “After finishing the album, people outside the group were scared by the raw sound and began to try to influence the band. They tried with all their might to convince them that they had made a mistake and that it was best to re-record it in its entirety. When that didn’t work, they mounted a sort of campaign to smear the record in the press, to put additional pressure on the band to change their mind. But it must be recognized that the album survived and the version that reached stores was precisely the album that Nirvana wanted to make. “I think their perseverance was commendable and unique, and they should get all the credit for how that album came out.”
In addition to the Pixies, Nirvana and PJ Harvey, Albini was in charge of work by The Breeders, Fugazi, Urge Overkill, Low, Veruca Salt, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Superchunk and The Sadies. Even some veterans looked for his rocky touch, like Cheap Trick or the joint album recorded by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin, Walking into Clarksdale. In Spain he worked with bands like La Cámara Roja, Berri Txarrak and La MODA.
Albini recorded on tape and without the intervention of computer technologies. Furthermore, he used to go to the studio wearing overalls, like a worker, to give character to his work. He preferred to define himself as a sound engineer rather than as a producer. Jorge Martí, singer and composer of La Cámara Roja, tells this newspaper about his experience with him: “He recorded analogically and live, without additives or artifices, like a craftsman and he manually edited the tapes by cutting them with a blade, the old-fashioned way. usage. What was cool about him was that he was a non-producer, zero interventionist, nothing invasive, nothing egomaniacal. His production was how he set up the microphones, the material he used, how he treated the sound, how he made you feel good and he always looked for the right shot. feeling above technical and impeccable execution. In that sense, he did not care about the failures, but rather about the soul of the music and what it managed to transmit. He told us: ‘They are your songs, you have to sound how you want to sound, you have to like it.’ He gave his opinion, but always making it clear that, above all, we had to be true to ourselves.”
And it always worked without filters. In an interview for the magazine Rolling Stone He said: “The term ‘rock and roll’ originally meant dirty songs about sex. They were rhythmic songs that were either euphemistic or explicitly about fucking. Fucking – that’s what rock and roll was all about.”
Outside of production, of all the groups in which he was active, the most popular was Shellac. Watching a performance by the trio was quite an experience: their fury was contagious. Few bands are so visceral. Albini was always an anti-star. Anyone could approach him and tell him something. Now, as he saw that the musical knowledge of his interlocutor was not adequate for his level (and it was very high) he could bring out the cantankerous side of him. Very fond of the game of poker (he became the winner in relevant competitions), he played timbas with musicians from other bands in the Barcelona hotel where he was staying while Primavera Sound was taking place. Since he couldn’t find high-level rivals, he ended the night at the casino. He is also passionate about baseball and guitar making.
Just next week Shellac’s latest work will be published, To All Trains, the one they were going to present at Primavera Sound at the end of this month.
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