Steve Albini, Underground Rock Legend, Dead at 61

Photo: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Alamy

Steve Albini, a towering fig of underground stone who recorded immoderate of the genre’s biggest albums and fronted the set Big Black, is dormant astatine 61. Albini had a bosom attack, unit astatine his signaling workplace confirmed to Pitchfork connected May 8. His decease comes conscionable arsenic his band, Shellac, was preparing to merchandise their archetypal medium successful a decade, To All Trains, connected May 17. Albini kick-started his vocation fronting the Illinois post-punk set Big Black, which helium formed astatine Northwestern University. The set became influential successful the burgeoning stone underground of the 1980s, particularly for Albini’s usage of a drum instrumentality successful their music, a precursor to concern rock. They released 2 albums, 1986’s Atomizer and 1987’s Songs About Fucking, earlier disbanding successful 1987. Albini past formed the short-lived set Rapeman afterward (a sanction helium since said helium regrets). In 1992, helium formed the trio Shellac, which steadily released albums during the ’90s. Shellac past released the medium Dude Incredible successful 2014. The radical recorded the upcoming To All Trains sporadically from 2017 to 2022.

Albini is adjacent amended known for his enactment successful the studio, wherever helium was alternate rock’s astir influential shaper and engineer. (A professional of music-industry powerfulness structures, Albini notoriously disliked the word “producer” and shunned recognition connected albums helium worked on, adjacent forgoing royalties.) Albini recorded immoderate of the albums that solidified alternate stone successful the 1980s and ’90s: Nirvana’s In Utero, Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, the Breeders’ Pod, Jawbreaker’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, Superchunk’s No Pocky for Kitty, and aggregate albums by the Jesus Lizard. In aboriginal years, helium recorded albums for Joanna Newsom, Ty Segall, Cloud Nothings, Sun O))), Laura Jane Grace, and Code Orange. Albini opened the Chicago workplace Electrical Audio successful 1995, wherever helium recorded until his death. In his escaped time, helium was a palmy poker player, winning 2 World Series of Poker bracelets.