This Week's Playlist #123 - The Steve Albini edition
An hommage this week with 5 songs from albums produced by the great Steve Albini
Hello everyone!
This Week's Playlist - Season 3, Episode 19.
This week, sad news came with the passing of Steve Albini, the prolific music producer and frontman of many bands.
In the last couple of days, much has been said about the man and his work. Here are a couple of links.
Reading the tributes and listening to the playlists of his work (we played extensive playlists in the office) reminded me of the 90s grunge/rock teenager I was, growing up listening to Nirvana, Pixies and PJ Harvey. I much later got into his own bands, with Shellac and Big Black.
But this week's reading made me realize how prolific he was. I discovered he produced many albums I listened to, and I had no idea.
So, my tribute to Steve Albini: 5 songs from albums I didn't know he produced.
RIP & See you next week.
There is a YouTube link for each of the songs on the cover, and here are the playlists for each streaming platform:
1. Dionysos - Song For Jedi
The first radio hit of the French pop band Dionysos.
It's taken from their fourth album, "Western sous la neige", released in 2002 and produced by Steve Albini. The title translates as western in the snow, and encapsulates the surrealist style of the album.
Mathias tribute to Steve Albini (in French).
2. Dirty Three - Sirena
The Australian instrumental rock all-star band recorded one album (Ocean Songs) with Steve Albini. It is a very quiet and introverted record compared to the rest of their discography.
Warren Ellis, the frontman, talks about this experience with Steve in his recent The Guardian interview. Their iconic NPR Tiny Desk session summarises their live performance well.
3. Sunn O))) - Troubled Air
Steve did proper goldsmith work on this masterpiece with Sunn O))), bringing color and shades to their monolithic sound.
Troubled Air is a long, slow, and meditative drone piece That summarizes the album in its essence in 11 minutes.
4. Scout Niblett - Kiss (feat. Will Oldham)
Another long-time collaborator.
Scout Niblett has a very recognizable sound and a minimalistic style. Many of her songs consist merely of vocals accompanied by either drums or guitar.
This one is no exception.
5. Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale
A classic to finish this week's playlist.
I remember listening to this masterpiece on my uncle's CD player as a teenager, mesmerized by the stripped-down folk sound yet keeping the primal side of Led Zepplin vibe.
I had just learned this week that Steve Albini was behind the sound deck for the recording.
I hope you enjoyed this selection. Steve Albini produced so many more records that I could have picked up a dozen songs. Listen to his music work as well. Shellac and Big Black.
Until the next time, Godspeed!
Thomas
Want to comment/reply/say hello? Just hit reply — your email goes straight into my inbox. :)
Did you enjoy these songs? Forward this email to a friend, or buy me a coffee :-)
Missed an episode: Here are the archives.