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With his bands Big Black, Rapeman and now Shellac (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable), Steve Albini has drawn huge numbers of listeners into a sonic and ethical maelstrom. For anyone yet to be touched by his unique vision, Big Black's 1986 single "Il Duce" is a good place to start. This rousing tribute to the Italian leader who makes Silvio Berlusconi look a credit to his nation boasts the memorable hook line: "I am Benito, and I like my job."
In his parallel career as a "recordist" (he scorns the title of producer, believing it too grandiose), Albini's name has appeared on an imposing spectrum of the most vital rock records of the past 14 years, from the taut quasi-Latin stomp of the Pixies' Surfer Rosa to the visceral self- excoriation of Nirvana's In Utero, from the thrilling revelations of the Breeders' Pod and the punkabilly bustle of PJ Harvey's Rid of Me, to such "quiet is the new loud" landmarks as Palace Music's Arise Therefore. In any race for mayor of the alt.rock underground, Albini would have few serious rivals.
Yet beyond his dual role as practitioner and catalyst, Steven Frank Albini fulfils a third function, more nebulous but equally fascinating, as keeper of the punk rock flame. How someone who thought Rapeman was a suitable name for a band could possibly wield any kind of moral authority will be a mystery to many, but thanks to his famously abrasive combination of fierce personal integrity and candour (this is the man who called Courtney Love a "psycho hose- beast" long before that view became the consensus in the music industry), Albini somehow manages it.
Having played one of the best received sets at the 2000 event, Shellac were a natural choice to follow Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai and Tortoise to...