Minnesota music community mourns producer Steve Albini, who brought Nirvana here

He produced one of the biggest records ever made here and worked with one of the state’s best-loved indie bands. So it was no surprise to see the Minnesota music community react strongly and reverentially to producer Steve Albini’s unexpected death Tuesday from a heart attack at age 61.

Pachyderm Recording Studio, the semi-secluded facility in Cannon Falls where Albini produced Nirvana’s last album “In Utero,” issued a statement Wednesday saying, “We will keep his spirit going the best we can.”

The famously altruistic Chicago noise-rock specialist — whose own bands Shellac and Big Black played the Twin Cities often — also worked with British alt-rocker PJ Harvey on her “Rid of Me” a couple months before the Nirvana sessions at Pachyderm in the winter of 1992-1993.

“The industry has lost a legend,” read Pachyderm’s social media posts. “Steve Albini showed us how to make good music with integrity, in the most punk way ever. Some of the biggest records done at Pachyderm were produced by Steve. … His death leaves a big hole in the music industry.”

Alan Sparhawk of Low — whose T-shirt Albini wore in a photo widely used with his obituaries Wednesday — lovingly recounted making his band’s groundbreaking 2001 album, “Things We Lost in the Fire,” at Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago.

Albini seemed like an odd fit for the daringly hushed Duluth trio, given his penchant for working with high-volume bands. Not only did he make a classic record with them, though. Turns out, the infamously irascible producer also got on very well with Sparhawk’s famously low-key bandmate and late wife Mimi Parker.

“I remember that Zak and I were just giddy to get to record with him,” Sparhawk posted via Low’s X (Twitter) account @lowtheband, referring to bassist Zak Sally.

“Mim was like ‘Ya whatever,’ but then they hit it off and got along like old school buddies. They both had the same dry sense of humor and would give each other [expletive] about reverb and tooth brushing.”

Sparhawk also retweeted many articles and memories from other musicians and admirers of Albini. One of the most retweeted posts on X was from Nirvana’s account, which featured a four-page letter Albini sent the band ahead of working at Pachyderm that demonstrated his unflashy punk approach to recording (“Leave room for accidents or chaos,” he wrote) and his exceptionally ungreedy business tactics (“I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible”).

Besides Low, Albini also worked with a much noisier but lesser-known Minnesota band, STNNNG, producing two of the Minneapolis quintet’s ultra-intense and underappreciated records, 2013′s “Empire Inward” and 2017′s “Veterans of Pleasure.” The dormant band’s X account came alive Wednesday with a photo of the group working in the studio with Albini.

“Thank you Steve, so much, so, so much,” the STNNNG post read.

One of Albini’s own bandmates, Shellac drummer Todd Trainer, is a Twin Cities music vet who worked with him over four decades. He has not commented yet on his friend’s sudden passing. They were scheduled to play U.K. dates together in June and have a new album due out May 17 via Touch & Go Records titled “To the Trains.”

Last but not least, First Avenue’s accounts also sent out a tribute to Albini along with a photo by local lensman Darin Kamnetz from his last of innumerable performances there in May 2022. In it, Albini is wearing a rather perfect T-shirt that reads, “I am begging you stop emailing me.” Both Big Black and Shellac have stars painted on First Ave’s façade.

“First Avenue was lucky to work with and host Steve Albini over the years,” the club’s post reads. “He will be missed.”