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Photos: Steve Albini's Letter To Nirvana In 1992, A Tour Of Where <em>In Utero</em> Was Recorded
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 26, 2013
Modified Sep 26, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 26, 2013
Modified Sep 26, 2013
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Earlier this month Nirvana's final studio album, In Utero, turned 20 years old—and as with all albums making leaps through time, the anniversary has come with a special Super Deluxe edition ($128.36 on Amazon), which dropped yesterday. Included in this is a four page letter from Steve Albini, who faxed his thoughts and terms ahead of recording the album in February of 1993.
Read the full letter here, or click through
In the letter, Albini lists off how the album's recording process should go, and how he doesn't want to receive any royalty payments, telling them: "I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it's worth... There's no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn't be able to sleep." The entire thing is worth reading—Albini is a pretty well-spoken (and written) guy. (Earlier this month he talked to Chicagoist at length about the remastered version.)
The album itself wasn't recorded at his own Electrical Audio in Chicago however, it was recorded at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. We spent some time there in 2008, and are reposting the photos here.
So when are we gonna let go of our Grunge Era? In 2011 Albini told us, "It’s like any other sort of touchstone band. Every year another big brother goes off to college and leaves his records to his little brother and another generation of fans find out about every band that sort of survives the slush pile. Nirvana is a classic example of a band that’s gonna continually find a new audience for itself until that kind of music no longer resonates with people and that might be a very long time."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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