Note: this week, in honor of the legendary Steve Albini's birthday, I am highlighting his impressive audio engineering work (he refused to be called a "producer"). These five posts are a small example of his musical prowess, selected by me, just a some fan with a blog.
Certainly I was aware of who Albini was and his importance in the state of music prior to this album, but I am starting with this one because of how surprised I was to see his name in the credits.
Dogs was released on a very small label, Socialist Records, but the version that I became aware of due to NPR playing it was the re-issue from Touch and Go Records in 2004. That was the first time I had heard of Nina Nastasia.
The fact that it was such a small label shows what's great about Steve Albini: he didn't care about how big of an artist you were or how big your label was, if you produced good music, he wanted to work with you. I love that! He was well-know to have a sliding scale for his services. Are you a huge band coming from a massive label with deep pockets? He charged X. Some artist no one has heard of? He charged Y.
Though her status as an artist has risen in the 20+ year since, at the time, Nina was a virtual unknown, but that didn't matter. Albini liked what he heard and he wanted to work with her, and so he did.
That's fucking awesome.
I highlighted another song from this album last month, but at the time I was torn between that track and this one, so I am happy to promote it now.
Have a listen to the art they made together and enjoy!
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