Celebrity Deaths

Their final show, with Roland Barker (aka Young Scientist aka Sequencer People, & also Paul Barker's brother) opening

RIP. a nasty surprise outta nowhere.

Albini was a fucking legend - probably as much of an influence on my life as my dad

yeah, shit. a friend just told me now about Steve Albini's death. gonna put on my "shellac" t-shirt - the one I bought from his hands while he was selling his merch sitting on the border of the stage, right after a show.

rest in peace.

  On 5/9/2024 at 1:56 AM, usagi said:

RIP. a nasty surprise outta nowhere.

 

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i love this story. 

Sad to hear about Albini. When I was about 15, I found all my aunts old records at my grandparents house in the basement and asked her if I could have them. Two of the records were Big Black: Atomizer and Songs About Fucking. They got a ton of rotation that summer, so much so that the punk band I was in at the time ended up covering "Jordan, Minnesota" at one of our shows.

Love a ton of the records he engineered: PJ Harvey, Nirvana, GYBE, Mono, etc etc

i just re-listened to an interview with Albini on Andy Richter’s 3 Questions podcast (September 2023) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-three-questions-with-andy-richter/id1468533126?i=1000627553267

pretty great chat but also heartbreaking in hearing talking about planning for some kind of retirement once his ears start to fade in their ability, you can hear how much he wants to just spend time with his wife and cats and grow old.

RIP

 https://community.drownedinsound.com/t/steve-albini-r-i-p-cw-thread-contains-discussion-of-child-abuse-imagery/11472/587
 

Read from post 224. Click on 'summary' on post 261. Then watch everything nose dive and explode into a ball of flames in absolute spectacular fashion. 

  On 5/9/2024 at 10:41 PM, beerwolf said:

 https://community.drownedinsound.com/t/steve-albini-r-i-p-cw-thread-contains-discussion-of-child-abuse-imagery/11472/587
 

Read from post 224. Click on 'summary' on post 261. Then watch everything nose dive and explode into a ball of flames in absolute spectacular fashion. 

 

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that's a sticky wicket. 

  On 5/10/2024 at 4:03 AM, ignatius said:

that's a sticky wicket. 

  On 5/9/2024 at 10:41 PM, beerwolf said:

 https://community.drownedinsound.com/t/steve-albini-r-i-p-cw-thread-contains-discussion-of-child-abuse-imagery/11472/587
 

Read from post 224. Click on 'summary' on post 261. Then watch everything nose dive and explode into a ball of flames in absolute spectacular fashion. 

 

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Jesus Christ. Those quotes are unforgivable.

There are 7 billion people on the planet and he chose to pal around (for many, many years) with one who was a proud pedo.

Also, ”edgelord” happens to be possibly the single most douchey term I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s the rock dude equivalent to a jock referring to themself as “alpha”. 

I would like to say, for the record (no pun intended), that I’ve never owned any albums made by Albini as a musician. 

  On 5/10/2024 at 7:58 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

Jesus Christ. Those quotes are unforgivable.

There are 7 billion people on the planet and he chose to pal around (for many, many years) with one who was a proud pedo.

Also, ”edgelord” happens to be possibly the single most douchey term I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s the rock dude equivalent to a jock referring to themself as “alpha”. 

I would like to say, for the record (no pun intended), that I’ve never owned any albums made by Albini as a musician. 

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The quotes are nuts and I’m trying to imagine the context for someone saying shit like that and I’m having a hard time. I’ve heard various chats and interviews and he always comes across as an intelligent and thoughtful person so it all seems from left field. I know there’s actual art books and photography books that have nude children in non sexualized presentations but the stuff he found in a sex shop in Hamburg or whatever does not sound like it’s that kind of thing! 
having a marquis de Sade moment of extremes and expressing something like that as a kind of artistic purity is a bit much. Where was that coming from? And how did it remain hidden or become “old news”? It’s maybe the least punk rock thing someone could do. I don’t get it. It’s just bizarre.  

I managed to find some scans of his 'best mate' Peter Sotos zine Pure. The fact it was written by a convicted pedo and not someone who was exploring the most extreme boundaries of fiction is terrifyingly sick. Not sure how someone could justify being friends with someone like that, no matter how much of an 'edgelord' they are. Unless of course that person thinks such behaviour is perfectly fine.

not sure what all the pedo stuff is about and I'm not about to jump into defending any of it, but Albini was known to be a huge asshole on purpose for much of his career. his schtick was to be as offensive as possible, even though he may not have necessarily harbored those feelings. the "punk ethos" sort of bullshitting misfit behavior that all those '70s / '80s punk bands would always exhibit in interviews.

here's a really long article from last year where he seems to have come to terms with how horrible he had been - 

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

  Quote

As the years wore on, his perspective started to shift. “I can’t defend any of it,” he told me. “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.” For years, Albini had always believed himself to have airtight artistic and political motivations behind his offensive music and public statements. But as he observed others in the scene who seemed to luxuriate in being crass and offensive, who seemed to really believe the stuff they were saying, he began to reconsider. “That was the beginning of a sort of awakening in me,” he said. “When you realise that the dumbest person in the argument is on your side, that means you’re on the wrong side.”

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...

...

I'm not super invested in defending the man either, partly because I do think some of the criticisms of his (past) character are legitimate. at the same time however, these kind of posthumous recriminations are tiresome when we're suddenly expected to just throw everything he contributed to music out along with his character. either bring it up at the opportune time so it can be dealt with or... well, what are we expected to do now? he's dead. also there is a statute of limitations on some of this shit, particularly when it's just words and not actions. quotes in some magazine from 40 years ago, in light of his deliberately shit-stirring character and his decades of subsequent behaviour not warranting any kind of prosecution, doesn't seem like much to go on to me.

in fact, this discussion has actually brought up a memory, I remember watching a grimy old interview tape (seems to be late 80s) featuring him speaking about a child murder case and how the murder was rationalised by people who jumped to the murderer's defense through character testimony. the way he speaks about it indicates both his fascination and his disgust with it. I don't think the idea of him lusting after child porn or whatever people are accusing him posthumously of now jives with this.

guy liked to peer into the darkest, vilest recesses of the human mind. as many of us do. most of us wouldn't go as far as making those quoted remarks, which does merit criticism, i.e. for deliberately saying the most outrageous/provocative shit just for the sake of it. his later contrition seemed to try to redress these old behaviours. though he waited for people to call him on it rather than come out and make statements of his own volition, which is another criticism. in any case... I think it's all pointless now. and people in that linked thread seem to be reinventing his character wholesale, which I think is a mistake.

  On 5/10/2024 at 7:58 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

Also, ”edgelord” happens to be possibly the single most douchey term I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s the rock dude equivalent to a jock referring to themself as “alpha”. 

nobody uses this term seriously, it's supposed to be cringy. it's an insult.

I deleted a few posts, just because I can't be bothered with it on a Friday night. And I have a tendency to go 'full moon' which I always regret in the morning. But yes, that forum can specialise in making monsters out of anyone that doesn't fit their equally extreme narrative. Their talent of demonizing individuals both musicians who said or did something from decades past, and anyone who posts something that's not inline with their way of thinking is impressive. I should know....

Sometimes it feels there are individuals on there who are actively hunting to finding any evidence they can to cancel any artist they can get their claws into. Those people never post on music or have any opinion on music, but just lurk in the background sharpening their knives.

Just saying. 

  On 5/8/2024 at 9:23 PM, Rubin Farr said:

He and Butch Vig really shaped the alternative rock scene of the 1990s

Hahahah this is a hilariously bad take

guess that post was taken down. whats the gist?

  On 5/11/2024 at 2:36 AM, species8472 said:

guess that post was taken down. whats the gist?

Yeah it's disappeared. I could explain the 'gist' but a little tired. They accused Albini of being a pedo sympathiser. A few weeks ago it was naturalist Chris Packham's turn, a chap who you would think was a pal of their ideological brigade. But someone found something on him so he was burnt at the stake as a Nazi! (yeah Chris Packham is the devil lol)

I remember this one as well. All heavy metal fans are Right Wing Nazis! The place is a hotbed of paranoid, extremist lefties. I myself was accused of being an evil, racist, misogynist. Just for casually saying I wouldn't take everything Megan Markle says as gospel! Fucking lol.

  On 5/11/2024 at 9:35 PM, beerwolf said:

Yeah it's disappeared. I could explain the 'gist' but a little tired. They accused Albini of being a pedo sympathiser. A few weeks ago it was naturalist Chris Packham's turn, a chap who you would think was a pal of their ideological brigade. But someone found something on him so he was burnt at the stake as a Nazi! (yeah Chris Packham is the devil lol)

I remember this one as well. All heavy metal fans are Right Wing Nazis! The place is a hotbed of paranoid, extremist lefties. I myself was accused of being an evil, racist, misogynist. Just for saying I wouldn't take everything Megan Markle says as gospel! Fucking lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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it's weird for so much call out culture on music forums. even when deserved it just seems.. idk.. whatever. everyone on a crusade. 

I think it all stems from their absolute Idol, Morrissey turned out to be a bit right wing! Hahah and they are very, very bitter about it. Their God was actually the Devil all along! So if Morrissey was a closet Right Winger what are they gonna make of someone like Tom Araya or James Hetfield?! Though obviously Phil Anselmo is a bit sus.

  On 5/11/2024 at 9:44 PM, ignatius said:

it's weird for so much call out culture on music forums. even when deserved it just seems.. idk.. whatever. everyone on a crusade. 

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The peculiar thing about it all is they are absolutely convinced they are the moral compass of the universe...