Steve Albini, musician and producer of Nirvana, Pixies and Slint dies aged 61
Chicago-based Electrical Audio studio boss died of a heart attack
Steve Albini, the legendary producer behind the Pixies’ breakthrough album and Nirvana’s In Utero classic has died aged 61.
Albini, who was also a member of Shellac and Big Black, is reported to have died of heart attack.
After the huge international success of Nirvana’s Nevermind the band specifically requested to work with Albini, who had previously produced Slint’s debut Tweez and Pixies’ Surfer Rosa. He reportedly wasn’t a fan but agreed to produce the album “to help them sound good”. The results were controversial but beloved by hardcore fans, while Albini was so disgruntled by the eventual mastering of the album that he published notes on how a stereo system should be set up EQ-wise to properly recrate his sonic vision for the album.
The same year, 1993, he also produced PJ Harvey’s second album Rid Of Me, her most brutal work.
He later set up the Electrical Audio studio in Chicago and recorded – he later eschewed the role of producer – albums by literally hundreds of artists including Jarvis Cocker, Beak, Bob Mould, Bonnie Prince Billy, Texas, The Scaramanga Six and more.
As a musician, Albini was a member of Big Black and Shellac, whose new album To All Trains is due out next week and who had booked a world tour to support it. He was also known as a keen gambler and would often appear at professional poker events, winning two World Series of Poker titles.
Tributes were beginning to pour in as the news of his passing spread, from many disparate corners of the cultural world. Even Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood posted a picture of the late musician, writing: “Ugh man, a heartbreaking loss of a legend. Love to his family and innumerable colleagues. Farewell, Steve Albini.”
Polly Harvey said on Instagram: “Meeting Steve Albini and working with him changed the course of my life. He taught me so much about music, and life. Steve was a great friend – wise, kind and generous. I am so grateful. My thoughts are with him and his family and friends as we suffer his loss.”
Stephen Gilchrist of Stephen EvEns and Brixton Hill Studios, whose bands Hot Sauce Pony and Stuffy & The Fuses had recorded at Electrical Audio under Albini’s guidance, said: “It would be nice to finish a weekend’s celebration of one musical titan (Tim Smith of Cardiacs – ed) without losing another one the following Wednesday. Sorry to sound flippant but now the two musicians who had the most influence upon me have now gone and I’m feeling a little lost.
“I’m still in shock to be honest. I only just communicated with Steve a short while back and was looking forward to seeing him and Shellac in June. I have known Steve for nearly 30 years and been lucky to have toured with him and have made four records with him over the years. He was generous to a fault, completely honest and funny as hell. He also had more integrity in his little finger than most people have in their entire bodies. A legendary recording engineer, inspired musician and outspoken critic of the music industry.
“He was unpretentious, generous with his professional knowledge to anyone who asked for advice and along with his wife Heather pioneered the Chicago Letters to Santa program providing for families in need over the festive period. I think about Steve any time I’m making a decision about recording or the running of our studios because I valued both his wisdom and his attitude to making music making accessible to all. I’m raising a bottle of wine to him tonight because I know he wouldn’t have any. ”
JD Twitch of Scottish label Optimo, meanwhile, said: “Damn! Ultra shocked and devastated to hear that Steve Albini has left us. Too young! A hero for nearly 4 decades. I got to know him a tiny bit a few years back and he was a kind and thoughtful human being. One of the genuinely good ones. SET IT ON FIRE!”