STEVE ALBINI: A celebration
A homage playlist with 166 songs in 12 hours of Albini-recorded tunes.
Upon learning of the terrible, shocking news of Steve Albini’s passing yesterday, I found myself at a loss for words. I felt like I had to say something, as this man has been so important to so many and so significant across so many genres of music and different artists and scenes, but it feels like so much will be inevitably left unsaid. Then I started thinking of the colossal effect he has had on me, personally, through his own music with Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac, but even more so with the music he has helped birth, shape and define as the uniquely talented audio engineer he was, one of the best and most influential ever in the history of recorded music. I started to look around my shelves and mentally list all the awesome records that I love and that are a part of me that he was involved in, and at each one that was added to a very long list, my heart sank a little more, as the enormity of this loss became even more clear. On the bright side, I also thought that all of those records that I was thinking about would help make a kickass playlist. So, why not actually make one?
So I did. With no great direction or rules (apart from just picking music he worked on as an engineer, not as a musician, it just felt better to not mix them), I just started piling songs that I love from Albini-recorded albums. Of course, I looked at the full list of his works to remember some, I don’t pretend to know them all by heart. And let me tell you, it’s a worthy exercise - the scope of his entire work becomes absolutely fucking unreal when you look at it like that. So, while the words “a Spotify playlist” might have made Steve himself recoil in abject terror, bear with me. It’s my own little way to pay tribute, and to maybe help you guys unearth a new favourite from years ago. I know that I found a couple in this little excursion. We’re still discovering awesome new music because of you, Steve! That’s the whole point, isn’t it?
Hope you enjoy this. Feel free to share it anywhere with anyone. Oh, and you do you, but I’d recommend just listening to it on shuffle. The wealth of different material he was able to help sound unique is even more breathtaking that way.
(note: the embed above stupidly limits you to 100 songs, so maybe you might like to go here for the full list)