Steve Albini's proposal to produce Nirvana's "In Utero"
 

Interesting reading, if a bit difficult, due to the quality of images posted.
The bulk of the letter has been transcribed below the last page image, to make it easier to read.


Read Steve Albini’s proposal to produce Nirvana’s In Utero | Consequence of Sound

bah, my vision's too ****ed to read most of that. i hope that transcription got all of albini's witty banter, that guy never fails to entertain. hella cool find btw, thanks for sharing. In Utero's my fav Nirvana record.

Here are a few portions of the letter, copied from the transcription...


"I think the very best thing you could do at this point is exactly what you’re talking about doing: bang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but “minimal” production” and no interference from the front office bulletheads. If that is indeed what you want to do, I would love to be involved."

"If instead, you find yourselves in the position of being temporarily indulged by the record company, only to have them yank the chain at some point (hassling you to rework songs/sequences/production, calling-in hired guns to “sweeten” your record, turning the whole thing over to some remix jockey, whatever…) then you’re in for a bummer and I want no part of it."

"I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my ass for you. I’ll work circles around you. I’ll rap your head in with a ratchet…"

"I would like to be paid like a plumber. I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There’s no ****ing way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep."

"Some people in my position would expect an increase in business after being associated with your band. I, however, already have more work than I can handle, and frankly, the kind of people such superficialities will attract are not people I want to work with. Please don’t consider that an issue."

PS – "If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody’s ****ing up."