Project 33: Steve Albini
For project 33, we paid homage to Steve Albini, who died on May 7th at age 61. He played in bands who consistently pushed limits and produced/recorded numerous amazing and influential albums. He held strong opinions about the music industry and wasn't shy to share them. Steve held to a code of professional ethics that became as much his signature as his powerful production style. Love him or hate him, Steve Albini was undeniably influential.
The assignment was to cover songs Steve Albini was involved with in any manner: anything he recorded, produced, and/or anything from one of his own bands (e.g. Big Black, Shellac...)
Bill Fricke covers Low
Immune
I love Low. I love their harmonies and the minimal, quiet songs.
I picked Immune from Secret Name, and in learning it, the structure lent itself to a 60’s pop/rock song style. I love jangly, 12-sting electric guitars.
Medicine Magazines
This is more in line with their aesthetic, and it went through several phases to get to What is here. This is from “Things We Lost in the Fire”. I wish I could sing as sweetly as Alan Sparhawk, and Mimi’s harmonies were always so wonderful.
Kelly Duclos and Neil Fasen also cover Low
Dinosaur Act - Low
Here's a collaboration featuring baritone ukulele, accordion, banjo, melodica and hold music tape loops. Going through the top Albini recordings, this one jumped out as a great faint memory from way back in 2001. Thanks, Neil, for joining up!
but Kelly also covers Guided By Voices with help from JT, LT, and JW
It's Like Soul Man - Guided By Voices
An old fave originally recorded by SA from GBV's Under the Bushes Under the Stars. Thanks Wikipedia for identifying this song as an Albini project! This is a new long distance collaboration with Jon and Linnea out in WI and Joe who popped in to see Jon all the way from WA - just in time!
and then Kelly and Henry covered The Wedding Present!
Dalliance - The Wedding Present
Here's a collaboration featuring Henry on drums. This might be my favorite of all the Albini recordings. I first heard it way way back in '92 on a kool kompilation cassette from a friend. The long build up and huge finish on the original recording is what I love so much about the song. H and I attempted to capture some of that same energy here.
Grant Eull doesn’t cover Low
but instead covers FUZZ, Nirvana, and the Pixies.
Was happy to hear this idea and celebrate the works of Steve Albini. The research selection aspect of this was once again super fun and incredibly difficult. My initial 19 sections were from PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Pixies, Superchunk, Fuzz, The Jesus Lizard, Bush, Cheap Trick and Cloud Nothings… I narrowed it down to my favorite song From Pixies Surfer Rosa, most likely the first time I have ever heard a Steve Albini record. Then a favorite from arguably his most famous record - Nirvana’s In Utero. Lastly, one that I ran across from research that I had not known Steve Albini produced. I thank my kid for introducing me to FUZZ (a pre Ty Segull solo project). This selection is from 2020 the third release and a tour that I attend in person at the Final Line in Mpls. Enjoy!
K.C. McKee also covers the Pixies and PJ Harvey
I was pretty shocked by the news of Steve Albini's death. I saw the headline after finishing a shift at work; I had, only a few days earlier, watched what would be his final video on the Electrical Audio Youtube channel, about some weird Canadian guitar opto-amplifier.
He was committed to demystifying the technical aspects of his own profession, and my approach to recording music has benefitted enormously from listening to his many hours of interviews available online, not to mention the classic albums he engineered.
I never met him personally, but it was always a comforting thought that, for a relatively modest fee, one could drive down to Chicago and cut a record with a legend at the helm; part of me is sad that option is now permanently off the table.
He'll be missed. RIP, Steve Albini.
–K.C. McKee
The Dirtpops cover Jawbreaker
It was difficult picking our song for this challenge, given all of the incredible music Steve Albini had been involved in throughout his career. We considered something by Zeni Geva, Big Black or Shellac, but eventually decided upon Ashtray Monument by Jawbreaker due to its lyrical content really speaking to us. The attached photo was taken of us in 1994 in Missoula, MT, Steve Albini's hometown incidentally. Our only idea going into recording the song was that we wanted to slow it down a bit. Once we laid down a fingerpicking acoustic guitar and then the basic percussion tracks, the rest of the recording came together rather quickly and organically. Doing the vocal harmonies was especially enjoyable for us.
Recording was done in Garageband with a $99 Blue Yeti USB microphone.
Cheers,
Troy & Shelly Dirtpop
