Steve Albini's "Conditions" For Becoming Nirvana's Producer | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend
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- Опубліковано 22 жов 2023
- Steve Albini remembers the letter he wrote to Nirvana before agreeing to produce their album, "In Utero."
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That is weirdly unexpected, huge props for bringing in Steve.
Well he produced Surfa Rosa and Nirvana are big Pixie fans
@@gavinhicks3474 I think he/she/they was talking about Steve being invited by either Dave or Krist or Conan to the podcast.
It’s a bit unreal
@@ismaelbelda1 It's great. Steve should get more recognition. But he never seemed interested in fame and that's why I love him.I think Conan genuinely like this music scene, as surprising as it might seem.
But did he ask him about his "blues," specifically?
ua-cam.com/video/ueMnRjCxk5w/v-deo.html
Nirvana chats are always fun, but Steve's insights/view into the industry and ethics was a unique treat.
You should read Steve Albini's semi-famous article The Problem With Music. It discusses everything about why artists will always be taken advantage of
@@suburbanindie I have to admit that I wasn't aware of Steve, prior to this interview, and less-so, his article, so I very much appreciate your recommendation. Given the current, evolving, industry model, I am looking forward to the read. Thanks, so much !
@@jaredbarber5823check out his band Shellac
Maron’s interview with Albini is a must listen.
@@wendelgee01 Thank you for that recommendation. I will most definitely make time to listen to that, as Mark is a stellar interviewer, and I'm sure he and Steve would make for an interesting and enlightening chat.
I love Conan for many reasons, but his ability to let guests talk and not make the interview about himself is just A+
Such a rare trait for a talk show host, for sure
@@FlyingFelicia *glares at Bill Maher*
I love Conan, but he's always had that issue - just listen to his usual podcast, he's constantly turning discussion back to himself. I do like that he's more restrained in this setting, but probably because he's not trying to make everything into comedy here.
Norm taught him to listen
Unlike Howard Stern, always about himself (usually by constantly interrupting his guests).
Never guessed that Conan would be the one to do the best post Nirvana interview. Huge props to him
Steve Albini's "Conditions" For Becoming Nirvana's Producer | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend 0746am 21.11.23 conan needs a drinking buddy, dunno about a friend.
Conan is a guitarist and he knows what he is talking about in these interviews. He also interviews Dhani Harrison and got to play Georges guitar collection.
I'm kind of shocked at the depth of conan's knowledge. I'm sure he had some staff prep help, but still very detailed to a level that surprises me
@@imtryinghere1 Comments on ‘Steve Albini's "Conditions" For Becoming Nirvana's Producer | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend’ 20.12.23 2108pm mike yarwood's on...
I actually love Steve's honesty of "no I wasn't a fan until I heard them work" instead of the flowery "oh I knew they were going to be great" jargon so many play a false beat to.
Nevermind was already the biggest album in the world at this point. I think he’s being a little disingenuous in this regard. And also a bit rude, if unintentionally, while trying to be “cool”, stating he was familiar with the bands in and around Nirvana at that time, but not them in particular. Just my opinion.
@@mattrock12 He already had an established rap sheet with Big Black and Rapemen.Being a record producer was just like a day job to pay the bills for him.
Steve has always being extremely brutally honest, an amazing human being but someone who suffers absolutely no fools.
Steve - Nirvana who
That is because he talked smack about Nirvana at the time. Back in the day, he enjoyed publicly mocking the bands he worked with in an unquestionably mean-spirited way. It would be foolish of him to pretend he always loved them when he called them "an unremarkable version of the Seattle sound" and only took the job out of pity (and the paycheck). Thankfully he later changed his mind and also grew out of that sort of behaviour. Lucky for him COnan didn't bring it up!
Steve Albini really needs to release his own line of Steve Albeanies
This comment should definitely have more likes 😁
Nice
LOL Great 😆 Also I think In Utero is their best sounding record
Totally underrated comment here 😂
marketing hats for hipsters wouldn’t be too albini-y.
Albini and Vig are two masters of their crafts. It’s always neat to hear Albini talk about Butch.
Steve is a man of utmost principles. In how he records, and how he makes his living. He is as authentic as they come, and it's amazing how good the records he engineers sound without a bunch of treatment or heavy-handed mixing. The master of mic placement in a room.
9 out 10 times producers and bands spend mixing time fixing issues that never would've happened if they listened to the room and moved the mic 2 inches to the left
Conan is an incredible interviewer and moderator, but I love how Steve Albini respectfully identifies and challenges a couple of assumptions Conan makes when asking about Nevermind vs In Utero, goes on to praise Butch Vig, and then answers the question to the best of his ability.
Steve's a stand-up guy, but man, I have so much admiration for the degree to which he lives his ethics.
Conans a great interviewer, does his homework and lets the conversation flow. Amazing to hear Steve and Kris and Dave telling stories. I could listen all day.
For real, Conan understand he's not the protagonist, less and less interviewers understand that today, seems like they only want to talk about themselves
Absolutely. Howard Stern would’ve kept asking, “Do you remember this”? and played Heart Shaped Box.
Conan and Steve Albini, what legends
The other two guys in the room ain't bad either...
Conan is a legend...?
I say this often with recent Conan podcast clips, but this is one you REALLY need to listen to the whole thing if you're a Nirvana, or punk, or rock, or grunge or even just 90s fan of music. There's a *feeling* they convey really well, they talk about the music, but so much about how it felt at the time. This was a one of a kind interview with Conan, he's so good at just talking shop with musicians.
Well, because Conan IS a musician.
Yes, Conan is excellent at talking shop with musicians. Best example I ever saw was an interview he did with Jack White.
Where is the whole thing?
I wish they uploaded the full video!
Conan asking super thoughtful questions here... not just "what was that like," but like... in-depth questions about producing music with a ton of context.
Conan is also a guitarist, he is all over this topic.
Pleasantly surprising to see Steve Albini on the podcast. Would love more like this. How about Ian MacKaye?
That’d be a dream
Awesome suggestion x!
@@jordonstarkweather5752STEVE ALBINI on CONAN is nothing I ever expected, yet here he is x!
Fugazi the best band of all time
@e1028 I love MCKAYE yet I do not rank bands, and I have seen a LOT x!
Conan is a good interviewer. Nirvana was a lot of fun. Seattle bands of that era are so special. Will never be repeated.
I love so much that Steve is dropping proverbial bread crumbs to Touch & Go's mighty band roster. So great!
Steve Albini has a very roundabout way of saying the slick sound of Nevermind is Andy Wallace
Having heard the mixes he's talking about, you are exactly right.
Totally right. The sheen on ‘Nevermind’ is the Andy Wallace mix, not Butch Vig’s recording. Nirvana wanted Andy Wallace to mix it (from memory, in Michael Azzerad’s book) because of his work on Slayer’s ‘Seasons in the Abyss and although he may well have changed his mind afterwards, Kurt’s actions at the time indicated that he wanted a record that would sound good on the radio. Would ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ have got the airplay that it did (on mainstream rock radio) and had the effect that it did if it didn’t sound like that? Probably not.
@@SteaminlidzThe label insisted on Wallace, nor Nirvana.
@@gillihansmobilewelding6318 “Vig and the band were unhappy with Vig's initial mixes and decided to bring in someone else to oversee the mixing. DGC supplied a list of options, including Scott Litt (known for his work with R.E.M.) and Ed Stasium (known for his work with the Ramones and the Smithereens). Cobain was concerned about bringing in well known producers, and instead chose Andy Wallace, who had co-produced Slayer's 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss. Novoselic recalled, "We said, 'right on,' because those Slayer records were so heavy."
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevermind
Wikipedia’s not exhaustively correct, but there’s lots of documented interviews stating that Wallace was the bands choice, not someone foisted on them by the label.
Conan and Albini, two hero’s of mine, on a podcast together. It’s a good life.
Dave and Krist have totally reversed roles since the Nirvana days. Dave was so quiet and Krist was so hilarious and outgoing. Now Dave jumps in to answer every question and Krist is quiet.
Krist is still very much going through the grieving process of losing his best friend. He is always just a bit shyer/conservative when he talks about Nirvana and Kurt in particular.
@@DirtyDirkDiggler Dave was the last man in the band, he was also a baby, in his early 20s and maybe not entirely comfortable in his own skin.
I also believe that, in his own way, Krist is more comfortable being a support role and letting others lead. Krist also probably has PTSD from it all, and has really only been comfortable in interviews maybe for the last decade.
I love listening to Dave Grohl, but I do wish that he would let Krist talk more.
Krist's music with 3rd Secret (which is amazing) fits his interaction in this interview. Soft, deep and to the point. Dave and the Foo Fighters are a different animal but with some of the same soul.
Dave quiet on Nirvana days?? Definitely no. If you see interview, or just time on screen without playing, Dave almost always makes something funny or stupid
Steve Albini is just amazing! So happy to see him here, easily one of my greatest heroes
He is one of the greatest.
The reason the scene was so amazing was because of people like Steve. He really represents at the end of the clip
steve albini is just the best❤️
I went to college with Steve. I thought was a weird dude. I wish I had looked beyond my narrow viewpoint back then. He seems like a brilliant man, who has had an epic career.
He's much more than just weird. He should be in jail. Google "Steve Albini PURE Magazine" and learn the truth about this disgusting man.
He seems weird tho
He is definitely weird but very well spoken and very thoughtful. His interview with Nardwuar was my first actual brush with him being an oddball genius other than his actual production which is always great.
@@xnflg3074 did you Google "Steve Albini PURE Magazine"? Or will you just keep hiding from the truth?
I mean you were probably right about both impressions
I love Steve albini. Favorite sound engineer
I could listen to interviews about that time period concerning Seattle and the Grunge movement forever. It's always so fascinating. Still my favorite era of music. All those bands were amazing
I wish they would release the full interviews with video.. on whatever platform
Conan is a great interviewer. One of the best.
Thank you. With all of the Grohl interview material available it is a true pleasure to get to hear Conan talk to Krist and Steve.
I got to chat to Steve Albini after a Shellac gig once, he put up with my fanboy questions about PJ Harvey very politely. The best recorder of rock music in history.
❤ super nice guy for sure 👍 Bob Weston blasted me after he busted me taking a video of them 😂 albini made light 💡 😊after …. Curious to know what you asked regarding PJ?? 😮
@@carlschieferrealestate I was asking about her guitar tone, which turned out to be nothing more than a JCM800 and an overdrive pedal.
@@glennbundesen3439 haha amazing 🤩 probably boss overdrive lol
This interview is a melting pot of everything that made me who I am today. Steve's work on "In Utero" and the early PJ Harvey and Jesus Lizard albums, obviously the music Nirvana gifted us all, and Conan. I'm looking forward to the whole episode! Love you all, and could never fully express my gratitude for all the reprieve, consolation, inspiration and joy you have all given my life in the last 30+ years.
Amen to The Jesus Lizard. I was so happy to hear Dave even mention them. Best live band of the 90’s. 🙌
@@jolemite2639 and Mark Lanegan! the only one of Kurt's 4 that he showed Dave that wasn;t produced by Albini.
To answer Dave Grohl it was Jimmy Page who always said “distance equals depth”
Yessir
Does that mean literal distance? As in mic placement for amps and drums?
@@chadgrov I believe that’s what Page meant, IE getting air between the mic and souce instead of everything being close mic’d
@@atlasproaudio6141 yeah and playing “live” when recording meaning the band playing all at once instead of doing drums this day and guitars the next, I think they did that on Nevermind but in utero they played most of the stuff live besides vocals I Think anyway not 100% sure. But it would explain why a ton of the old Neil Young and Crazy Horse records sound so good cuz they recorded live and would usually use the first or second take. really gives a different ambience as opposed to something really polished and manufactured as Nevermind and records like it. Not that it sounded bad in any way whatever
@@chadgrov I believe so. As in incorporating natural room ambience to recording . This is a technique also heavily employed by Steve Albini .
I didn't expect this pleasent suprise. I really love that Conan talks with the whole gang. Especially Steve's input is quite interesting. And ofc its always nice to see Krist and Dave 😊
Steve saying Butch was no slouch is not only nice to hear but super unexpected. Very cool.
It’s hard to imagine anyone having unkind things to say about Butch. He seems like such a genuine, humble and decent guy
what a pleasant surprise on a monday no less. one of my favorite bands of all time sitting with my favorite talk show host talking with my favorite producer of all time. never could've thought this up.
Thank you so much for doing this interview Conan, you're one of the best people they could pick to do it, and yes thank god Steve Albini was in it too, man's a legend. Conan + Nirvana = down to earth amazing interview
When you hear Bone Machine it is like a slap in your face. I love Conan and Surfer Rosa.
Steve has mellowed so much!
I completely missed the Pixies at the time (as many did) and just discovered them a couple months ago. Surfer Rosa is an amazing album and the influence Nirvana took from the Pixies is undeniable.
It’s just ‘Pixies’-not ‘The’ Pixies.
@@BOARMoto-bm2mh Noted. Thanks.
the pronoun is they pixies, get it right @@BOARMoto-bm2mh
@@BOARMoto-bm2mhYou better make sure Black Francis knows about that.
(ua-cam.com/video/01bSibI-ebc/v-deo.html for example. As he introduces himself at the beginning, he calls them "The Pixies".)
And the influence they both took from Hüsker Dü. Just ask Dave
Whenever I see Steve I can’t help but think of Jay Reatard’s first bass player named Steve Albundy! 😂😂😂
Haha! So who do you think about when you see Coven's bass player Oz Osborne?
Great segment, great insights. Can we also take a moment to acknowledge how fantastic these clips look. How many long form video podcast/interviews have the same old glossy shiney look and feel almost like the video element is an afterthought. The video of this interview looks intentional, warm, welcoming and cinematic. Well done.
I was about to say this too! It looks cinematic as hell.
TEAM COCO, please bring back STEVE ALBINI with SHELLAC! Yet utmost gratitude for this x!!!
Steve is widely known in the industry for not taking points on the records he produces. Only a few out there like that. He does great work, that's for sure
He took 2 million dollars instead
He was paid $100,000
@@SamuelVenturaMusic kurt said in an interview once that they paid albino 2 million dollars. Not sure who to trust. Cobain was the genius in all of this after all.
@@KurdtC-nn3ov haha yeah I remember that actually. I think he was joking though…
@SamuelVenturaMusic 100 grand for 1 months work. Steve may not have taken points but damn sure marked up his daily rate by a gigantic amount.
Albini and Vig were great. But hard to forget the impact of the late great Glen Locket "Spot", the in house producer at SST records in the early to mid 80's. The independent records he produced: Black Flag "Jealous Again" and "Damaged" , The Minutemen "The Punchline" Meat Puppets "Meat Puppets II", Husker Du "Zen Arcade" and the Big Boys "Fun Fun Fun" .....that is some seriously influential output in a roughly 5 year time period. A truly trailblazing label...in its time and place. Forget about what it turned into.
Spot was totally amazing, always had a smile on his face, and he could play any instrument you put in front of him and any kind of music from traditional Celtic folk to avant-garde weirdness. I heard that shortly before he died he said he regretted not learning enough different types of music which is insane!
New Day Rising❤
Milo Goes to College❤
Testify! SPOT!
I became a HUGE fan of Steve Albini from the first time I heard a Big Black song on the local college radio station: the title escapes me but it was off the five song EP before Atomizer came out. His sound always had/has an in-your-face integrity/intensity that is as definite, assertive and honest as he seems to be. What else can anyone want?
We didnt really have "college radio" in my town but for a fleeting summer in 1994 there was a late night radio program playing college music. I taped as many of them as I could. Kerosene always stood out as brillantly threatening and perfectly summed up life in a shitty little town. Nobody knew what I was talking about for years when I brought it up. 😅
The biggest difference in the "polished/radio friendly" Nevermind VS In Utero is that it was mixed by Andy Walace. I think people assume Producer means they mixed it which is not usually true. The label wanted the more radio friendly version. Butch Vig mixes are out there if you look. They definitely sound more raw and punk like Butch's other mixes but I'm not sure if Nevermind would have had the success it did on the radio with his mixes. If the label would have went to a radio program director with Butch's original mixes they would have probably said it sounds too punk and raw and doesn't fit their format. Nice Die Kreuzen shout out!! One of my favorite bands!
Funny that Andy Wallace's name doesn't come up here... From Wiki: "Vig and the band were unhappy with Vig's initial mixes and decided to bring in someone else to oversee the mixing. DGC supplied a list of options, including Scott Litt (known for his work with R.E.M.) and Ed Stasium (known for his work with the Ramones and the Smithereens). Cobain was concerned about bringing in well known producers, and instead chose Andy Wallace, who had co-produced Slayer's 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss.[25] Novoselic recalled, "We said, 'right on,' because those Slayer records were so heavy."[26]
Wallace's mixes most notably altered the drum and guitar sounds.[27] According to Wallace and Vig, the band loved the results.[28] However, they criticized it after the album was released. Steve Albini, who engineered Nirvana's next album, In Utero (1993), said Vig's initial mix "sounded maybe 200 times more ass-kicking" than the final version of Nevermind and that Nirvana referred to it while working on In Utero.[29]"
Oh man, I love Steve Albini
Gotta love The Jesus Lizard shout out by Dave. So nice to hear their album was among the few Kurt owned. Most underappreciated 90s band ever.
Love the Jesus Lizard/Nirvana split 7” on Touch N Go
I’d say Polvo.
Vig's production work on Nevermind was incredible. He turned a punk band into the biggest band in the world. Without Vig, most of us probably never hear of Nirvana. The band might think the Nevermind sound is too poppy after the fact but without that the record probably isn't a hit. He changed the world of music with his production on Nevermind.
I prefer Albini's production style but I still enjoy hearing that overproduced rock sound on Nevermind
A lot of that is Andy Wallace's mixing and Bob Ludwig's mastering. You can listen to other bands Butch produced before Nevermind, like Tad, and hear that his work for them wasn't that much different from Jack Endino's. He did help with talking Kurt into doubling his voice and using the chorus effect more often than he otherwise would have, but again some of that chorus was Andy Wallace running tracks through a Yamaha SPX90 in mixing. It wasn't all on the Small Clone.
And IMO, Kurt only complained about Nevermind being too poppy because a lot of the users, abusers, and losers he hung out with were jealous of his success so he shat on Nevermind to ingratiate himself with them. He felt guilty that they hit it big while his "friends" were still struggling.
@@madhatter8508 I don’t have the technical knowledge you have but these is all very interesting, thank you. I personally prefer In Utero album. Or I did in my Nirvana listening days. But I always that it was a bit unfair Nevermind to hear for being a hit album.
@@alvareo92 yeah, I probably prefer Albini’s style also. Both are great though.
I think the polished production on Nevermind was more on Andy Wallace's mixing rather than Butch Vig's production
Steve is one of the most unapologetically opinionated and honest people in the music business. I’d probably be intimidated talking to him, but I respect the hell out of him
Shout out to Steve Albini
has a few classics under his belt including In Utero
Conan and Albini speaking is a match made in heaven
Been watching Conan a long time…didn’t realize he knew so much about music in this period including producers.
If he was vaguely interested in music at the time, Steve Albini and Butch Vig were very well known.
Conan always brought more underground bands on his show . Of all the late night hosts it was obvious he was more into music than anyone else .
@@JohnSmith-fm3pn. You should try to view the old Dennis Miller shows. HE brought out the underground musicians on his show.
I have surfer Rosa on vinyl and the Steve albini version of in utero vinyl as well. The production/“sound” of surfer Rosa sounds so so similar to in utero. Def sounds like it had the same producer which is pretty awesome
I really appreciate how insightful an interview this was. Conan, you gave a great interview
The last minutes tell you how great Albini is and how corrupt labels are
Albini is true north. The standard. Not only his recordings but primarily his whole philosophy and approach.
What a good guest!
Enjoyed this interview. Thank you!
What a phenomenal job of interviewing here. Conan knew his stuff, asked smart & informed questions, then gets out of the way.
I don't know if this is 'full circle' or whatever, but...many years ago there was a bar in Chicago called Marie's Riptide Lounge, which was a regular hangout for the punk/adjacent people. Jesus Lizard, Steve, et al, would hang there fairly often. Marie, the owner, was a boisterous, ribald old Polish woman, told hilarious jokes, etc. Then, in '95, Conan & Andy visited as part of a segment where they visited Andy's old Chicago haunts (it's on YT).
Love the Jesus Lizard/Nirvana split 7” on Touch N Go. And love Steve’s charging bands was always scalable. He did Iowa Beef Experience, Glazed Baby, etc and a lot of other great bands that were as important to me as Nirvana.
Endlessly fascinating. I've read countless oral histories, etc. about this record, but I could listen to these guys talk about it all day long (and obviously Conan's presence is the icing on the cake) - huge kudos for this one
I am SO glad Conana is doing stuff still/again. What a deep and intelligent dude, I have come to find these past few years.
FAN CORRECTION: Krist Novoselic was the bassist of Nirvana. Not the guitarist.
Yeah...one would think that would be fairly obvious with Kurt being the guitar player 🫤🙈
Literally the most obvious fact
But a bass IS a guitar, it's literally called a bass GUITAR. I'm obviously just joking and of course, you're correct sir. I'm just having fun here being the dreaded word police.
Nah, you're right.@@mcigloo
my biggest pet peeve, as a bassist , i hate when people mislabel bass players as “guitarist” in media
Ladies and gentlemen, the legend Steve Albini. 👍
This was a real gem! Thanks for making this conversation a reality.
Love these talks about the production, from an artistic point of view it's golden, great upload 💯
I love that Dave brings up Breeders Pod. That was such a revolutionary album for me in 90.
Still love that album
Albini is a true icon
This is so insightful. Going to find the full episode. Great job!
Got through most of the segments of this interview. Conan O'Brien has his homework done, and interviewed really well. More of these ones Mr O'Brien!
The rough cut of Nevermind that Steve was talking about, was actually released on those 24k gold cds that were a thing in the mid-to-late 90’s. I’m not sure if they made it to any of the giant anniversary editions.
Wouldn't have expected to hear Die Kreuzen referenced on this channel.
What a great band
Or Killdozer
Enjoying this. Brings me back to the old Sit and Spin laundromat in Seattle, hearing Black Hole Sun on the stereo as the clothes spun. Time flies. Seize the day.
Steve is a man of honour and glory
30th anniversary of In Utero’s release last month, fun to see these guys on.
I swear this last summer was sponsored by youth Nirvana t-shirts, never seen so many Nirvana shirts before lol
i never thought about that way, but you're right. my thought is always, "you weren't even alive. have you even *listened* to their albums?"
@@egret203 I gave a bunch of my 80s New Wave band tour shirts to 14-year-old girls because A) the shirts shrunk and were so tiny that that's the only people they would fit, and B) so people would go "What the hell? You couldn't have been at that show!"
Oh, and kind of on the subject, I saw the Dead Kennedys when the dude from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" was their new front man, and the entire audience was like people under 25, and they all sang along and knew every word to every song -- so more power to 'em, I guess...
I would love to see a full show with just Conan and Steve 1 on 1.
Thank you for this Conan 🍻
Conan is a great interviewer. He clearly knows the band's history and delves deeper
bless the pixies, and devo too
“This shall be our snare sound.”
😂 I can just imagine riding with him and then out of nowhere he says something like this.
This entire conversation was great!
having Steve on this interview was really good wow
PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me is my favorite album that Albini produced.
God I love albini
Great interview
I love this interview
Steve is referring to the Devonshire mix of Nevermind (or a precursor to that mix) which is available on the 2011 Deluxe version of the album. Smells Like Teen Spirit, and every other song, sound amazing and more “real” than the official album. It’s not like it raw and totally unpolished but it’s more natural that the official release. Look it up.
Albini is the best, smart and real.
When a song comes on, you KNOW Steve's drum sound immediately
Steve is very cool and refreshing. I love his approach.
The Simpsons meets Big Black. Welp… I guess I’ve seen everything I need to see in this life!
Kurt loved the sound and production of Nevermind. It is the album he intended to make. And he left the studio delighted with it.
It was only later on, when some punk rock people started saying it was too slick-sounding that he publicly questioned it.
And I would add, as much as I love In Utero, if Albini had produced Nevermind, none of us would ever have heard of Kurt Cobain.
Idk about that last part. SLTS was going to be a radio hit no matter who produced it, and the music video was going make the band a mainstream success no matter what.
@@EarthWalkerOne I suggest you listen to the original Butch Vig mix of SLTS (it’s on the 20th anniversary reissue). Thank f*** for Andy Wallace is all I can say. If that original mix had been released it would have sunk without trace.
Also, they had someone come in (I don’t recall the details at the moment) come in and remix or cleanup In Utero before it’s release. There wasn’t much love for the snare which needed fixing as well, IIRC.
@@mattrock12 Exactly. Kurt got R.E.M.’s producer Scott Litt to remix several songs. Kurt was unhappy with the mixes, the level of the vocals and the bass.
It has to be said, the original mix of In Utero is atrocious. The 2013 remix (plus Scott Litt’s remixes) are far superior.
That last sentence is a biiiiiig stretch.
Brilliant conversation
I was in my first year of college when Nivana's Nevermind came out. This was before the Internet or streaming music existed. If you wanted to watch cable TV, you had to go into the downstairs common area and watch the single big screen TV. I'll never forget seeing about a half-dozen to a dozen students just standing in that area, stopped in their tracks on the way to or from classes or meals, watching in awe as Smells Like Teen Spirit was getting heavy airplay on MTV. It was like you knew history was being made in music.
Finally a mention of Killdozer on this podcast, I've been waiting for like... 10 years??
Q: "How many pens does Steve Albini need?"
A: "yes."
You just made me smile. He had at least one for each person on set, it seemed.
Dude. I had to do so much driving for work today and the full podcast episode of this made it so much easier. Sure, I nearly cried like twice but whatever. It was great. I feel awesome about being Conan's friend. ❤
I recorded with Steve in the 90's. We had literally four days to record and mix. Period. I've never been so prepared for recording in my life. Got along great with him even though we'd heard he was eccentric (he is). It was our worst record but that wasn't his fault. We just wrote terrible songs. Loved his approach to recording. Mixing board was way up in the top floor of his house and we recorded in the basement. He had mics everywhere. Ceiling, floor, you name it. Combined it got a great sound.
What's the link to hear it?