Thanks for posting - all those memories from recording with Dolomite at that house back around '93 just came back to me. I remember being pretty nervous and starstruck. Wild to see footage of the recording spaces all these years later.

Also, thanks to everyone posting all the great memories here. I've been back to checking the forum every day again and will definitely try to make it up to Chicago for the July PRF.

tallchris wrote: Tue May 14, 2024 10:54 am Stumbled back on this video, some of the only footage I've seen of the Francisco St studio he had in his basement and attic before EA. Also David Sims bass rig, Nash Kato's Orange full stack, and based on the comments the drum kit is Britt Walford's:

Rey - RM drummer - is posting away in the comments…

Edit: Now Robert Poss is posting memories in the Page Hamilton interview I linked on the FB group.

JSP wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 6:06 pm
Steve, I miss you, and I’m grateful for so many ways to be able to remember you.

Your friend,
Jon
JSP-WTF

That entire post was lovely JSP

A week has passed and I still don’t know what to say. FM Steve was so deeply woven into the fabric of our subculture that his absence feels like we are collectively missing a lung. Those of us who never even met Steve are hit hard because of how the strength of his words and his work reached beyond whoever was in the room with him. My only interaction was via DM on the old forum, after the fall of ‘18 Shellac tour had wrapped up. It had been almost 20 years since I first saw the band in ‘99 and I wanted to let him know how thankful I was to see them play again. A few years earlier, when he was really into wolf t-shirts, I found the most over-the-top wolf t-shirt online and sent it to the studio with some dumb note, thanks for all the awesome music, here is a wolf t-shirt you might like. I never made it to a BBQ or met any other forum members in person aside from Tim Midyett, yet the community that flourished here is a testament to FM Steve’s character and generosity and I was glad to be a part of it, even if on the periphery. We mourn his loss but we have gained so much.

Thank you Steve Albini.

Patrick

That reminds me, one of the official BBQ shirts this year should be a sad 13 wolves t-shirt.

One week later and this still stings. Still doesn't feel real. I don't know if I'll ever get over the feeling that he was supremely robbed, and so were we.

Will Oldham summed it up well in his The Guardian piece:

We’re experiencing an increasing momentum of things that run counter to seemingly anything that drove human civilisation forward. It seems like it’s kind of coming apart right now at a mind-boggling rate. It feels like Steve’s reward is not having to witness it, and our reward is getting to do our best to fill in the vacuum that his death leaves. He took on a lot of responsibility for everybody, so we didn’t have to think and do, because he was thinking and doing on our behalf. And I feel charged and prepared to move forward alongside Steve’s personal and professional legacy as much as possible. It’s hard for those of us for whom thoughtfulness is a principal virtue. There are few examples to look to, in the way Albini is.

Maybe I missed it, but have any arrangements been made for in-memory-of donations in Steve's name to a charitable cause?

twelvepoint wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 8:52 am Maybe I missed it, but have any arrangements been made for in-memory-of donations in Steve's name to a charitable cause?

I saw this on his memorial page

https://sympathy.legacy.com/en-us/funer ... E1NzgxNDg0

penningtron wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 8:36 am One week later and this still stings. Still doesn't feel real. I don't know if I'll ever get over the feeling that he was supremely robbed, and so were we.

Will Oldham summed it up well in his The Guardian piece:

We’re experiencing an increasing momentum of things that run counter to seemingly anything that drove human civilisation forward. It seems like it’s kind of coming apart right now at a mind-boggling rate. It feels like Steve’s reward is not having to witness it, and our reward is getting to do our best to fill in the vacuum that his death leaves. He took on a lot of responsibility for everybody, so we didn’t have to think and do, because he was thinking and doing on our behalf. And I feel charged and prepared to move forward alongside Steve’s personal and professional legacy as much as possible. It’s hard for those of us for whom thoughtfulness is a principal virtue. There are few examples to look to, in the way Albini is.

Absolutely x 2

Saw Shellac many, many times but was never lucky enough to meet Steve. Closest I got was when some friends recorded with him circa 2001 and I found out he was appalled by my own bands name

I remember getting a tape with 'Histoire de Melody Nelson' by Serge Gainsbourg on one side, and 'Songs about Fucking' on the other, a perfect pair, when I was about 14, and being dazzled by songs like Columbian Necktie.

I clearly remember the first time he blew my mind, the Rude Gesture 7" had come out, and our band rushed home to listen together, all excited to hear Albini's new project. The needle hit the record and these scratchy moments of guitar magic started lurch out of the speakers. It was wonderful. But our reaction was 'Ah lads, what's the fuckin' point..." and we split up shortly after, it seemed rock music had been perfected.

I've some dear friends in Chicago, who were family to Steve, and feeling his loss keenly right now. All us freaks and geeks from afar are heartbroken, but their sense of loss must be overwhelming. But I take some comfort that the deep well of tall and short tales will take many years to run dry, here's to a life fully lived.

NB: also enjoyed Will Oldham using his Guardian piece to take a big swipe at ATP, that seems a sore that's been festering some time