Jarvis Cocker pays tribute to “unique individual” Steve Albini

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker has paid tribute to Steve Albini following the legendary producer’s death – see what Cocker had to say below.

Yesterday (May 8), it was revealed that Steve Albini, who was known for recording and producing classic albums such as Nirvana‘s ‘In Utero’ and Pixies‘ ‘Surfer Rosa’ among others, had died at the age of 61 due to a heart attack.

Now, Cocker – who worked with Albini on his solo album ‘Further Complications’ in 2009 – has taken to social media to share a tribute to the late record producer, engineer and musician.

He wrote on Instagram to accompany a photo he had taken of Albini’s Electrical Audio studio: “This is not a very interesting photograph – but very interesting things happened within these walls. This is a photo of the building that contains Electrical Audio: the recording studio established by Steve Albini in Chicago.”

“I took this photo during January 2009 when we were recording the ‘Further Complications’ album there. Working with Steve Albini was an education in many ways: the technical aspects of recording sound, for sure – but also lessons in how to live & work at making music without being destroyed by the Music Business.”

Cocker continued: “He was a unique individual. My thoughts are with those close to him. Listen to the music he was involved in & read what he wrote about it. It’s worth it.”

Cocker and Albini had met in 2008 at the Pitchfork Music Festival, and soon began discussing ideas together. In January the following year, Cocker began recording ‘Further Complications’ at Albini’s studio, and the album was released in May 2009.

Besides Cocker’s ‘Further Complications’, Albini was known for recording and producing major albums such as Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’, Pixies’ ‘Surfer Rosa’, PJ Harvey’s ‘Rid of Me’, Manic Street Preachers‘ ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ and more.

As a musician, Albini fronted the likes of underground bands such as Shellac, Big Black and Flour. Shellac recently announced ‘To All Trains’, their first album in 10 years which is set for release next week (May 17) and were preparing to embark on a tour.

Steve Albini performs with Shellac in 2022. Credit: Jim Bennett/WireImage
Following the news of Albini’s death, Pixies, Benefits and more have paid tribute to the late producer – you can read them here.

Most recently, Nirvana’s social media accounts have shared the four-paged letter Albini had sent them, proposing that he wanted to produce ‘In Utero’, and outlined his approach to recording music.

Speaking to NME last year, Albini shared that being forever associated with Nirvana due to his work on their 1993 final album ‘In Utero‘ was no albatross. “It’s totally normal, it’s perfectly reasonable,” the producer and audio engineer told NME. “If you had never heard of me before and someone is trying to introduce me to you, they are going to name the famous records that I worked on – and ‘In Utero’ is the most famous.”

Last year, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic spoke to NME and recalled working with the producer and how the band landed on the post-‘Nevermind’ sound of the record. “Kurt was a fan of Albini,” he said. “I remember being in a tour van in 1989 and Kurt was listening to Pixies. He raised his finger and said, ‘This shall be our snare sound!’ He wanted to do it with Steve for a long time.”