#RexMurphy always heavily spiced his takes, and especially in the last 5 years of his life veered off into the ideological weeds. That said even his strongest detractors must admit that his way with words and manner of speech were mesmerizing. #RIP
The legendary musician, producer, audio engineer and writer Steve Albini died yesterday. Here's a tribute to him from Rolling Stone in which Rob Sheffield recalls his famous poker sessions at All Tomorrow's Parties festivals (Albini was a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner).
"If you casually popped into the room, to eavesdrop or merely loiter, maybe pretend you were making up your mind, he had a business-like way of transfixing you with his eyes and asking 'Are you in?' in a tone that made it clear 'nope, just watching you make other people look like fools' was not going to cut it. That was always his approach to music as well. He always knew how to clear a room. Requiescat, Steve Albini. You and your noise will be missed." [Story may be paywalled]
Over on the digital lo-fi I wrote up a post about Steve Albini and what he meant to me as a musician, writer, aging GenX punk rocker. This all still feels unreal to me.
Been offline for a bit because I'm dealing with some IRL shit. This hasn't been helped by the news that Steve Albini has died. Dude was such a legend, engineered so many of my favourite bands and he even became a better person after a lifetime of being an edgelord dickhead. Will be spinning plenty of Big Black and Shellac today, along with Pixies, Nirvana, Breeders, The Wedding Present and lots of his other amazing work #rip#SteveAlbini
#RIP Pete McCloskey, a California congressman who raised a flag of rebellion against President Richard M. Nixon’s war policies in Vietnam with a spirited but futile race for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, died on Wednesday at his home in Winters, Calif., west of Sacramento. He was 96.
It'd be impossible to come up with any sort of definitive list, especially a short one, of great songs in which Steve Albini was involved. But below are a few, in no particular order that have long appealed to me.