Photo: John Bartley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Few figures had as far of a reach in independent music as Steve Albini, who died at 61. As a musician, Albini influenced generations in his formative post-punk band Big Black and his ongoing band Shellac (which is releasing a new album next Friday). In the studio, he recorded and engineered hundreds of albums, from influential rock records like Nirvana’s In Utero and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me to contemporary albums like Joanna Newsom’s Ys and Cloud Nothings’ Attack on Memory. Many admired Albini’s staunch independence in the music industry. Upon Albini’s death, Pixies, who recorded their 1988 album Surfer Rosa with Albini, honored him on social media. Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi called Albini “a genuine, singular, principled person” in a tweet.
Many more indie bands who looked up to Albini posted tributes, including Ratboys, Chat Pile, and Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, who said Albini “changed my worldview.” A number of independent record labels also honored Albini, including Don Giovanni Records, who called him “the last person in the music industry who actually mattered while maintaining a fierce code of ethics around their work.” And the guitarist Bill MacKay, who recorded at his studio Electrical Audio, remembered sharing “one unforgettable & hilarious Ramen dinner” with Albini. Below, more tributes to Albini.
