Albini made good records in part because he had an approach that he believed in and stuck to. He talks about it dogmatically as though it is *the* approach, which it isn't, but the fact that he was so adamant about it made him a better engineer/producer imo.
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:37 (ten years ago) link
This sounds like ass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBnDrIxjz8A
the drums are all pushed out and the guitars, which are what really drive the band, are kind of crushed
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:39 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, they definitely didn't sound like that live. Weird choices on Albini's part. And arrg weird panning on the drum kit. Hate that.
― punt cased (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:44 (ten years ago) link
Yeah it doesn't sound that different than the Kill Taker version to me.
― you are kind, I am (waterface), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:45 (ten years ago) link
Keep in mind those are DEMOS
sounds way different from Killtaker
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:47 (ten years ago) link
i don't like the slint stuff with albini because it sounds too albini. and yet i don't mind the same albini touch on the breeders/pixies stuff. sometimes it works for me and sometmes it doesn't.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:48 (ten years ago) link
otm. Breeders' Pod is my favorite Albini production.
― punt cased (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:51 (ten years ago) link
so how much did Nirvana paid him eventually?
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:51 (ten years ago) link
since albini refuses to take points on albums he records, nirvana paid him by giving him several points on hole's live through this.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:52 (ten years ago) link
lol
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:53 (ten years ago) link
he got paid like $100K iirc
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:56 (ten years ago) link
SUCKER!
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:57 (ten years ago) link
Didn't he say he went broke soon after though?
― punt cased (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:58 (ten years ago) link
regardless
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 20:59 (ten years ago) link
i think Surfer Rosa was one of his best works, and iirc he didn't like the record so much at first.
so i take with grain of salt his remark about the correlation between the quality of the result and the mood of the band.
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:02 (ten years ago) link
feel like this is a real truth bomb about a certain kind of artist in general
― Tyskie in the giro (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:04 (ten years ago) link
he also knew how to choose good bands to work with most of the times..
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:05 (ten years ago) link
Bush...
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:08 (ten years ago) link
if he would've made a masterpiece with Backstreet Boys, he was now the truly the god of all producers lol
of course he is a great producer, but it's easier to be good with Jesus Lizard than with Bush
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:09 (ten years ago) link
He would probably admit that!
― you are kind, I am (waterface), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:10 (ten years ago) link
i don't really care about notions of "good bands" and i don't think it's relevant to Albini's process - he worked with whoever he chose, whether that be for financial or aesthetic reasons
― Tyskie in the giro (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:11 (ten years ago) link
i always dreamed about a collaboration between SY and Albini. that could have been their last masterpiece..
i guess he fucked it with that Rapeman song..among other stuff..
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:13 (ten years ago) link
true, i'm talking about the resultxpost
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:14 (ten years ago) link
The 18th Dye record sounds fantastic!
― Evan, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:16 (ten years ago) link
I imagine that letter being typed out live on a sturdy but analog typewriter with no edits and no click track.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:17 (ten years ago) link
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:18 (ten years ago) link
my faves would probably be pod, surfer rosa, goat, songs about fucking, rid of me. and the first shellac album. kinda glad he didn't do helmet's meantime and spiderland. oh and dial m for motherfucker. i like how that sounds. too far into the 90's and i probably didn't hear whatever he did.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:20 (ten years ago) link
I don't like how the jawbreaker record sounded but apparently during the recording process the console caught on fire so good excuse?
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
i'll add Man Or Astro Man, and some more i probably forgot..xpost
― nostormo, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
seamonsters, dogs...
― koogs, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:27 (ten years ago) link
silkworm
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
All of the Silkworm albums he worked on sound amazing but especially "Firewater." My favorite drum sound.xpost
― Immediate Follower (NA), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
Nina Nastasia's records, those are good.
― LinkedIn Beef (Eazy), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:37 (ten years ago) link
oh yeah! those are some recent records i love. don't know how much of that is albini and how much of that is liking her a lot though. they sound fine. he is good with strings on some of those records.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:39 (ten years ago) link
taking a good band and not fucking it up is harder than it sounds -- there are plenty of crappy-sounding or overworked records by good bands
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:40 (ten years ago) link
if you listen to the recent nina albums they don't scream albini or anything. which is a good thing. they shouldn't. i like tar's jackson too. forgot that one. just a great rock guitar sound.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:41 (ten years ago) link
i still dream of a new orleans brass band recording with albini.
― festival culture (Jordan), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:42 (ten years ago) link
or great punk guitar sound anyway. you have to dig albini drum sound to like the tar album though.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:42 (ten years ago) link
every time i hear a shittily digitally recorded metal album i kinda wish i could hear it recorded by someone like albini. just to get some sort of room sound and some contrast.
― scott seward, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:44 (ten years ago) link
From outside the world of rock, he did a really good job on The Thing's Bag It! a few years ago.
― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:44 (ten years ago) link
Wonder if he's still insisting on the no royalties with the 2013 mix and all that.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:48 (ten years ago) link
I wish more jazz artists hired him cuz yes that Thing record sounds great.
Steve is a genius at documenting what bands actually sound like, which seems like it would be really easy to do but is not. I am in a band that made a record with him and he was a pleasure to work with and I think it sounds closest of all of our records to what we actually sound like live & in the practice space.
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:51 (ten years ago) link
obligatory post where i say that razorblade suitcase sounds pretty damn good.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link
chr1s I figured out what band that is and I'm listening to the record now and it sounds pretty great!
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link
albini has a thing with kick and snare -- when he does anything on the hard side his kick and snare always really stand out to me
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:58 (ten years ago) link
i guess he fucked it with that Rapeman song..among other stuff.
Kim Gordon: Big Black were playing in Amsterdam, it was their last tour, and we happened to be there. In the train stations they have machines where you can buy women’s underwear. It was Steve’s birthday, so I bought some to throw at him so he would feel like a rock god on his birthday.
― fit and working again, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:58 (ten years ago) link
These are all some great records, but Neurosis "Times Of Grace" is the best album Albini ever recorded
I agree with the "no royalties" ideology and put it into practice by working pay-what-you-can with all clients. The rest of that letter is a terrific, dogmatic method but it's a good method. I've heard lots of shitty Albini records by bands that really should've used Protools (or practiced more) ((or ceased to exist))
― flamboyant goon tie included, Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:59 (ten years ago) link
yeah, what bands actually sound like + an amazing larger-than-life roomy drum sound.
― festival culture (Jordan), Thursday, 26 September 2013 21:59 (ten years ago) link
yeah tbf I don't think many bands can claim that their drums sound like that in the practice room
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Thursday, 26 September 2013 22:01 (ten years ago) link