Steve Albini

Steve Albini (born July 22, 1962, Missoula, Montana) is an influential guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist, former member of the bands Big Black and Rapeman, and current member of Shellac. He is founder and owner of the company Electrical Audio, which operates two recording studios in Chicago.

Related Topics:
July 22 - 1962 - Missoula, Montana - Guitarist - Audio engineer - Big Black - Rapeman - Shellac - Electrical Audio - Chicago

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He is currently most active as what is mostly known in the music industry as a record producer, but he dislikes the term and prefers recording engineer, saying that putting producers in charge destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their product. In 2004, Albini summarized his opinions regarding record producers: "It always offended me when I was in the studio and the engineer or the assumed producer for the session would start bossing the band around. That always seemed like a horrible insult to me. The band was paying money for the privilege of being in a recording studio, and normally when you pay for something, you get to say how it's done. So, I made up my mind when I started engineering professionally that I wasn't going to behave like that."http://inmyroom.omnihosts.net/albini.html

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His guitar playing has been just as influential on the sound of rock music as his sound engineering. With Shellac, Albini showcases his abrasive vocabulary of clanging, scraping metallic sounds. As a lyricist, Albini demonstrates an interest in the seamier side of life, writing lyrics describing inter-personal injustice, dehumanization and personal crises, often written from the perspective of a central character.

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Additionally, he is famous (or notorious) in the indie world as a pundit on the music industry and trends in indie music, starting from his earliest writing for 'zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, to his commentary on the poor ethics of big record labels, and how their practices filter through to the independent labels. He has been a strong supporter of labels who have tried to break the mold, especially Touch and Go Records, with whom all of his bands have released recordings.

Related Topics:
Matter - Forced Exposure - Poor ethics of big record labels - Touch and Go Records

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His playing style in the 1980's was often compared to that of Greg Ginn, lead guitarist of Black Flag.

Related Topics:
Greg Ginn - Black Flag

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