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->''"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."''
-->--'''Steve Albini'''

Steven Albini (born July 22, 1961) is a famous AlternativeRock musician and studio engineer from UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} by way of Montana. Some of the bands he's worked with include: Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/ThePixies and Music/TheBreeders, Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor, Music/{{Helmet}}, [[Music/LedZeppelin Robert Plant]], [[Music/TheB52s Fred Schneider]], Music/TheStooges, Music/{{Mogwai}}, Music/TheJesusLizard, Music/PJHarvey, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/ScreamingFemales, Music/JoannaNewsom, Music/{{Low}}, Music/CheapTrick, and Music/{{Slint}}.

If you looked up [[RecordProducer Invisible Producer]] in an illustrated dictionary, Steve Albini would be the picture. His style has such hallmarks as recording live with minimal overdubbing, using microphone placement to get some harsh guitar and drum sounds, keeping the vocals low in the mix, and completely averting ExecutiveMeddling: he prefers to not be credited (if the company insists, he prefers the term "recording engineer"), doesn't collect royalties, and lets the artist/band make all the creative decisions. Due to his stereotypical association with producing critically acclaimed harsh albums, there's a degree of surprise whenever he works with more "mellow" artists like Music/JoannaNewsom and Nina Nastasia.

Albini is also famous for having a big mouth, being very liberal with throwing insults and nastiness around (ask Music/ThePixies, Music/LizPhair, Urge Overkill, and Music/TheSmashingPumpkins about it sometime), harsh criticism of the music industry's practices, and being [[NewTechnologyIsEvil something of a Luddite]]: he refuses to record in anything but analog, and back in TheEighties he disparaged the CD as being "the rich man's eight-track tape". On the other hand, for several years he and his wife (along with others) have also functioned as something of a [[http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/dec/09/steve-albini-chicago-secret-santa secret Santa]] to cash-strapped families in Chicago, distributing money, clothes, and toys at Christmas. In recent years, he has also [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/15/the-evolution-of-steve-albini-if-the-dumbest-person-is-on-your-side-youre-on-the-wrong-side expressed sincere regret]] for his earlier behavior, remarking, "I can't defend any of it. It was all coming from a privileged position of someone who would never have to suffer any of the hatred that's embodied in any of that language." He also has a [[http://mariobatalivoice.blogspot.co.uk food blog]]. [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/SteveAlbini YMMV page here, indeed.]]

As a musician, Albini plays guitar, bass, sings and programs drum machines. He was a member of the following bands:
* Music/BigBlack (1981–87), with guitarist Santiago Durango and bassists Jeff Pezzati and his replacement Dave Riley. Technically a PostHardcore[=/=]NoiseRock band, their use of a drum machine, distinctive "clanky" guitars and shouty, confrontational lyrics made them a big influence on the IndustrialRock[=/=]IndustrialMetal scene.
* Rapeman (1987–89), another PostHardcore[=/=]NoiseRock band, with David Wm. Sims and Rey Washam of Music/ScratchAcid on bass and drums. Named after a manga called ''The Rapeman''; predictably attracted more attention and controversy for their name than their music. In a [[https://www.protonicreversal.com/ep150-steve-albini-shellac-big-black-rapeman/ 2020 interview]], Albini said it was an unconscionable and indefensible name for which he felt he had "not been held to account".
* Music/{{Shellac}} (1992-present), a NoiseRock[=/=]MathRock band with bassist Bob Weston and drummer Todd Trainer.

'''Famous albums he produced:'''
* ''Music/SurferRosa'' (1987) by Music/ThePixies.
* ''Pod'' (1990) by Music/TheBreeders
* ''Tweez'' by Music/{{Slint}}.
* ''The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion'' (1992) by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
* ''Music/RidOfMe'' (1993) by Music/PJHarvey.
* ''Music/InUtero'' (1993) by Music/{{Nirvana}}.
* ''[[Music/Ys2006 Ys]]'' (2006) by Music/JoannaNewsom.

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!Steve Albini provides examples of:
* BrutalHonesty: Let's just say that he likes to speak his mind. Even about people he's worked with.
* TheCameo: He briefly appears in the video for fellow Chicagoan [[Music/{{Wilco}} Jeff Tweedy]]'s song "Low Key", as a local resident who rejects Tweedy's attempt to sell him his new album.
* CapitalismIsBad: He has discussed in interviews (e.g., with Creator/AnthonyBourdain) that the values that contribute to the creation of good art frequently clash with the values of capitalism. This is also a contributing factor to his refusal to charge artists as much as he could get for recording them; his fees are noted in the industry for being quite reasonable. It's probably also why he charges artists on major labels more than he charges independent artists.
* CausticCritic: He once described the Pixies as "blandly entertaining college rock". Albini later apologized for these remarks in 2005.
* CelebrityResemblance: Franchise/HarryPotter looks like a younger version of him, right down to the glasses.
* CreditsGag:
** He had a habit of occasionally crediting his engineering to his cat, Fluss. The practice was retired after Fluss died in 2003.
** Overlaps with IHaveManyNames; one-off production aliases include "a skinny bespectacled guy," "some fuckin' derd niffer," "Ding Rollski," "Terry Fuckwit," "Buck Naked," "King Barbecue," [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Earl_Hughes "Robert Earl Hughes,"]] and "engineer."
* DeadpanSnarker: Often comes across as one in his writings.
* HiddenDepths: He's an accomplished poker player, even earning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet for the Seven Card Stud event in 2018.
* InsistentTerminology: He dislikes being called a "record producer" and prefers being credited as a "recording engineer" (while normally preferring not to be credited at all). This is because he wants bands to have as much creative control over their own music as possible, so he offers minimal input, which is different from most music producers.
* [[RecordProducer Invisible Producer]]: TropeCodifier. Best exemplified by the stories of recording Cloud Nothings' album ''[[NewSoundAlbum Attack on Memory]]'' where the band states that Albini was hands off during the four days it took to record it, with him either blogging or playing ''TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}'', and only interrupted when he heard something wrong.
** When discussing his methods, he states how he reads "dry, uninteresting" things, rather than listen with furious concentration, because in his early days as a producer, focusing too hard on the music led him to twiddle with it unnecessarily.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The man is known for his vitriolic attacks on performers and the industry, but he genuinely wants the artists he works with to sound as good and have much control over their own music as possible. Also, he and his wife donate money, toys, and clothes to poor Chicago families for Christmas.[[note]]It started when his wife found a pile of letters to Santa in a post office, written by parents. She showed one to Albini and he decided that they'd deliver a package to the family in question. Twenty years on, this has become a Chicago institution. Albini's wife works at Second City, which does a 24-hour fund-raising gig every year, and Albini gets musicians he knows to do guest spots. Because the US Postal Service no longer shares the addresses of the people who write the letters, and some of them don't have secure mail delivery, Albini & co ''personally deliver'' the packages to the families (sometimes bringing along a Spanish translator because the families are often immigrants with limited English; Creator/FredArmisen often fills this role.) Yes, ''Steve Albini is Santa'', although he says that the credit for all this belongs ultimately to the families, for having the initiative to write the letter in the first place.[[/note]] In recent years, the "jerk" part has all but faded entirely, and he's expressed sincere regret for having been one.
* LoudnessWar: Even though the bands he records are frequently loud, his recordings usually avert this. This is unsurprising, as he strongly dislikes digital technology, and most dynamic range compression is applied digitally.
* NewTechnologyIsEvil: Albini records exclusively in analog, and derided the CD as "the rich man's 8-track."
* PerishingAltRockVoice: As part of his signature style and in his bands.
* PerpetualFrowner: Albini's version of smiling is when his mouth forms a flat horizontal line.
* PrankCall: After Jerry Garcia's death, somebody pranked Albini -- who loathed hippies -- by posting his phone number on fliers, asking for Deadheads to call in, and relate their stories of how Garcia touched their lives.
* RefugeInAudacity: Every aspect of his musical career.
* SignatureStyle: Live recording to analog, microphone placement, vocals low in the mix.
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