I've posted many different kinds of mixes over the years - some have been dedicated to a certain band (example
#1, example
#2) or performer (
#1,
#2), others to a certain scene (
#1,
#2), but never have I made one entirely dedicated to a producer. Until now, that is. And if you're gonna pick one record producer to make a worthy mix about, it has to be Chicago's sweetheart Steve Albini.
Well, actually he prefers to be referred to as "engineer" rather than "producer". He usually also doesn't want credit for any work on the record sleeves or receive any royalties from record sales. His desire to downplay his own role in making some of the best-sounding albums of all time is one of many reason I have nothing but respect for this man.
Another reason is how when he produces big artists on major labels he makes sure to scrounge as much money as he possibly can for his engineering work, which then allows him to work with unknown, local acts for virtually no pay at all.
Furthermore I simply love the sound he's able to get out of an electric guitar. It's like he's taken the "guitar" part out of "electric guitar" and the only thing left is a savage, buzzing power line that's been cut and it's now thrashing around uncontrollably, hissing and popping and shooting sparks. Listen to any record by his bands Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac and experience some of the most amazing noise you will ever hear.
Albini's greatest talent is his ability to make music sound
real. This is real music played by real people on real instruments, and he doesn't let anything get in the way of that. Nothing is over-processed or brickwalled, just the raw, undiluted, natural sound that so many people in this business seem incapable or unwilling to capture.
In everything's he engineered you can actually hear the space in which the music is being performed. Listen to virtually any Albini engineered recording in headphones with your eyes closed and it feels like you're standing right there in the room while the record is being made.
He just puts a bunch of microphones in a room and lets whoever he's recording do their thing, and when they're done, that's the record. Plain and simple. No fussing around.
Albini has worked on
thousands of records for thousands of people, so I decided to just go with some of my favorite ones I happened to have on my computer. The result is one hour and sixteen minutes of the genius that is Steve Albini.
(zip) Metal Bastard's Steve Albini compilation (105 mb)
1. Big Black - Colombian necktie (1987)
2. Rapeman - Coition ignition mission (1988)
3. The Pixies - Where is my mind? (1988)
4. Slint - Carol (1989)
5. TAD - Hibernation (1990)
6. The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair epidemic (1992)
7. Helmet - In the meantime (1992)
8. Union Carbide Productions - Right phase (1992)
9. P.J. Harvey - Hook (1993)
10. Nirvana - I hate myself and want to die (1993)
11. Zeni Geva - Stigma (1994)
12. Melt Banana - P-pop-slop (1994)
13. Oxbow - Lucky (1997)
14. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Bernie (1998)
15. Neurosis - An offering (2000)
16. Shellac - Ghosts (2000)
17. Nina Nastasia - You, her and me (2003)
18. High On Fire - Cometh down hessian (2005)
19. Jarvis Cocker - Caucasian blues (2009)
20. Mono - Silent flight, sleeping dawn (2009)
21. Om - Cremation ghat II (2009)
Pay for your music..
