To commemorate what On what would have been Steve Albini's 62nd birthday, some of the musicians and people who knew him best — including PJ Harvey, Mogwai, John Spencer, and Shellac drummer Todd Trainer — posted their tributes to the late Shellac frontman and iconic recording engineer on Monday.
Albini’s widow, Heather Wina, asked her husband’s friends and fans to pay tribute to him on social media using the hashtag #ThankYouSteveAlbini. “Share photos of his albums that shaped you, concert memories, or even handwritten notes that resonated with you. If you were lucky enough to meet him, let’s see those photos!” she wrote in a note shared on Touch & Go Records’ Instagram feed. The label’s #ThankYouSteveAlbini post featured a montage of photos of Albini with Shellac’s “Pull the Cup” as the soundtrack.
PJ Harvey and Mogwai have published album covers that Albini recorded for them, get rid of me and the single “My Father is Mine” respectively.
The coach posted nearly two dozen photos of Albini taken around the world. Some of his favorites were of the band in Halloween costumes, Albini sitting behind a giant drum set, and Albini hanging from a bungee cord in England.
Wina posted a photo of Albini's guitar pick case, writing that he always carried it in his right pocket. The photo contained two Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen picks and one metal Albini pick, which he used to achieve his signature raspy sound. Wina added that she now carries Albini's guitar picks in her right pocket.
Jesus Lizard has published a documentary featuring Albini telling the funny story behind the song “Mouth Breather,” a song by goat The album recorded by Albini.
Chicago-based composer and saxophonist Ken Vandermark shared three posts praising Albini. “In July 2011, I was producing music for a soundtrack I was hired to create for a documentary about the Chicago music scene during the 90s,” he wrote in the first post. “So, I invited Steve Albini to play some improvised guitar solos and duets with Terry X over parts previously recorded by John Herndon and Wayne Montana. Bob Weston was the engineer… I didn’t know it at the time, but this was probably the only time Steve was hired to record for someone else’s project. He was great to work with, funny, and a good friend to both Bob and Terry. It was great to be around them. When the four of us arrived at the studio, it all started with Steve saying to Bob, ‘Are you sure you want to use this mic on this amp…?’” Vandermark went on to share more about the sessions and how Albini, in turn, asked him for another session in the second and third Instagram posts.
Post-metal band Neurosis posted a photo of the tape reels Albini recorded for them. “We learned a lot from Steve about accurate and precise analog recording and over time our sessions got faster and faster,” the band wrote. “Since we record together as a live band and just record vocals or do random experiments, it took us six days to record and mix Fires within fires“The previous sessions were a day or so longer. However, if you add up all the days we spent together, it must have been about three months of our time together doing what we love to do most. He facilitated our dreams of making great records for our band, and we are forever grateful to him. He also became a dear friend and will be missed forever.”
The Primavera Sound music festival Instagram account has been compiling footage of Shellac’s many appearances at the event over the years. The festival announced in May that it would be naming one of the stages after Albini. “While this will be the first year since 2007 that the inimitable Shellac will not be leading the charge at his beloved festival date, the late Steve Albini will be more present than ever at Primavera Sound,” the festival wrote in a statement at the time.
Low, Melt Banana, Toadies, Jason Narducy and many others also participated. My regards to Albini on XFriendship Commanders also re-released an alternate version of their second album, invoicelike Bill: Steve Albini Mix.
