STEVE ALBINI

okay lol

I'm not mad at him, I accept it as part of his "thing", but I don't buy this particular one at all.

really? you seem kind of furious at him, man

no, I'm more lol @ him

this is all better if you imagine he was wearing a Hello Kitty cardigan during the interview

So this is an interview for Gothamist, which is a New York-centric website.
I believe you.
Do you have any New York stories that you’d care to share?
No.

lol

seriously, as a guy who thankfully does not have to interview as many musicians as much as he used to, i appreciate anyone who provides good copy, even if it's at the interviewers expense. at least if you ask albini an asinine or boring question you're going to get a zing out of it.

I wouldn't recognize Gaga either, but then I don't recognize ILXors I know unless I see em at least once every 6 weeks.

saw Shellac for the first time last week and was genuinely surprised at how good they were. stage banter itself worth the price of admission.

yeah shellac rules, i've seen then...god...over dozen times at least

also Albini is awesome

― great zing-balls (crüt), Monday, October 3, 2011 1:49 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

pity most of their albums since AAP are patchy as hell

really? i like terraform the best by far

greyhound was pretty patchy though

how does he know shes shit if he hasnt heard a note?

dunno

though sometimes i feel pretty weird cuz i could say the same thing about a lot of big hits

at home i listen to records and at work i listen to spotify and my ipod and in the car i listen to college radio and sports talk and the local classic rock station, so i haven't heard, for example, "party rock anthem" by lmao

That I can understand, but I honestly feel like its really difficult to be that unaware of Gaga in 2011 - she's a special case. I mean, there are thinkpieces all over the fucking place about her, she's in several different ad campaigns, her songs pop up everywhere, she's the closest things to a cultural phenomenon we've got right now. And, given Albini's past remarks, its hard not to imagine him saying that to get a rise out of people.

Hard not to imagine it working, as we've proved.

Sure, doesn't make it less of a pose if true though. Don't get me wrong, I love Shellac and I love a lot of what Albini's done, just rmde at his schtick at this point.

I actually do buy his ignorance, and if it weren't for a supermarket situation as mentioned above, I'd have no idea what she sounds like. Still am only aware of one bit from one of her songs. It's really easy these days to not listen to the radio, watch regular tv, etc. without being a hermit. Spotify+Netflix+Pandora etc. as noted above.

how does he know shes shit if he hasnt heard a note?

do you really have to ask?

I only know one Lady Gaga song and only know what she looks like because of the video for that song...Telephone?

there are thinkpieces all over the fucking place about her

i'm perfectly happy for albini to keep churning out these uh, albini-isms. dude seems destined never to mellow, and i'd argue that he simultaneously serves as a luminary for the cantankerous inner cynic in all of us and a bit of a reminder to keep our pessimism in check, so as to not take things quite as far as he has. in other words, the consistency of his message has been kind of comforting over the years and a rather noble counterpoint to the voice of those who take most everything at face value.

He should get a free pass forevermore for his Santa escapades with his wife.

OMG what are his Santa escapades? I thought I was pretty filled in on Albini's exploits!

he did the nicest, most awesome thing for my friends who are huge shellac fans and was super gracious and nice and polite that I see him alot differently

Oh I have no doubt that he's a really nice dude, heard that a lot actually.

he gave our chalet their beer stash at ATP one year, claiming they were "too old" to want to drink it. They were in the chalet next door to us.

I once saw him silenced by a heckler, at the Garage in London.

He was introducing - I think - My Black Ass with a long spiel about Satchel Paige being the greatest ball player white people never saw play. Someone shouted: "What about Geoffrey Bloody Boycott, eh?"

Albini was baffled, started laughing and told the heckler: "Sir, you have the advantage."

OMG what are his Santa escapades?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/dec/09/steve-albini-chicago-secret-santa

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/the-problem-solver/2010/01/letters-to-santa-update.html

That's awesome.

http://twitpic.com/gnu7p

I guess my core idea of "Albini-isms" is colored by all the homophobic shit he said in interviews in the '80s, y'know, when that was still cool.

i was going to say "honestly more concerned about 40-something musicians determined to give lady gaga a fair shake" but then Morbz had to go and mention albini's less charming pigfuckery

I also don't think you get to play Chief Justice of Music when you produce Bush etc.

he did the nicest, most awesome thing for my friends who are huge shellac fans and was super gracious and nice and polite that I see him alot differently

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, October 4, 2011 10:00 AM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark

details on this?

apparently he took the money from bush and gave it to poor mathcore bands or something

See I didn't become aware of Albini until the 90s, so I missed out on all those *charming* 80s years.

xpost cad:

not really my story to tell i guess? maybe i shouldn't have brought it up, but either way left a lasting impression

know ppl that recorded w/him as well and also their impressions seemed at odds w/his public image as an asshole

I also don't think you get to play Chief Justice of Music when you produce Bush etc.

― incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 October 2011 14:57 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

how about 'expressing an opinion in response to a question asked to you by someone conducting a pre-arranged interview', do you get to do that

what is it with people's apparent inability to distinguish between the above and someone calling a press conference to announce their views to the assembled media

ppl should turn down interviews when they have nothing to say (99% of everybody)

surely what they have to say is dependent on the questions that they get asked, unless you're suggesting that they be vetted prior to the interview

*grabs coat, trots to door, SLAM*

kinda amazed people are still trotting out this "I can't BELIEVE you've never been heard/seen [insert pop star]" canard

been

Normally I'd otm you Shakey Mo, but not in this case. It seems like Albini spends a fair amount of time on the internet, which makes it really hard for me to believe he's never encountered Gaga. Considering every fucking site on the net, up to the most highminded highbrow sites, has a thinkpiece on her. I just don't buy it here.

jon you understand that most thinkpieces don't have mp3s attached to them???

and albini doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to read think pieces