Larry Crane

Wonderful article. To clarify, the album was all tracked and mixed on analog tape except for a tiny bit of guitar overdubs right at the end, just to make choruses pop louder. www.larry-crane.com

As someone who also owns a recording studio and records music for a living, as well as having interviewed producers and engineers from all over the world for Tape Op Magazine, I always find it amusing how easily bands and journalists put my colleagues up on a pedestal based on the work they have done. Yes, Steve Albini is a thorough engineer with some great work in his CV (and he's a straight up, good person) but he's also someone who works in a service industry and is available for hire. He's not sitting in some high ivory tower, shining his benevolent light on artists he deems worthy - he's just a guy who owns a studio and works almost every day of the year in order to pay his bills and staff. A quick email or phone call can book some time with him in the studio, just as it can with people like Craig Schumacher, Nathan Sabatino and so many other talented studio owners/engineers here in your own city. It's great that the Provocative Whites went and knocked out a quick session with Albini, and it sounds like he was probably a good choice, but now they have to figure out how to get that record heard, how to drum up more fans, and how to navigate the shit storm that is the current music business. Albini's name on your album, or in an article's headline, ain't gonna make much difference in that in the end...
-Larry Crane, www.tapeop.com