Elvis Costello has a few choice words for polarising producer Steve Albini and his work on PJ Harvey’s seminal album Rid Of Me.
Costello recently sat down with Pitchfork for their excellent 5-10-15-20 series, which asks musicians to detail the music that profoundly impacted their life, five years at a time.
The segment saw Costello reflect on the revelatory experience of seeing PJ Harvey play the title track to the 1994 record live, “I remember seeing PJ on The Tonight Show. She stood there with just a guitar and did ‘Rid Of Me.’ It was like seeing Howlin’ Wolf on Shindig! So great,” He mused.
Though Costello admitted that the recorded version fell short of the annihilating live performance, criticising Steve Albini’s production.
“And then I got the record, and it was nowhere near as good, but it didn’t matter. For me, the record sounds like shit,” said Costello.
“That guy doesn’t know anything about production,” Costello shared of Albini. “He might be the second-worst producer of a great record after Jimmy Iovine, who totally fucked up Darkness On The Edge Of Town. It sounds like Bruce [Springsteen] is in a fucking shoe box full of tissue paper.”
He continued, “And that’s why ‘4-Track Demos’ is 20 times the version of the songs on the album, in terms of intensity and intent,” Costello said, referring to Harvey’s demo album that arrived five months after ‘Rid Of Me’. “What matters is her, what PJ is doing. There’s nobody like her.”
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Elvis Costello and The Attractions recently unveiled an expansive box set celebrating their cult 1979 album, Armed Forces. The record arrives with a trove of demos, B-sides, handwritten lyrics and nine LP’s.
Costello released his latest album, Hey Clockface, on October 30th.
Check out ‘Oliver’s Army’ by Elvis Costello & The Attractions:
