Elvis Costello says Steve Albini "doesn’t know anything about production"

In a new interview with Pitchfork published yesterday (30 November), Elvis Costello discusses some of his favourite music, one of which is PJ Harvey's 4-Track Demos album, which featured demo tracks from her Rid of Me album.

Costello told Pitchfork, "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."

The musician continued, "And then I got the record [Rid of Me], and it was nowhere near as good, but it didn’t matter. For me, the record sounds like shit. That guy [Steve Albini] doesn’t know anything about production. He might be the second-worst producer of a great record after Jimmy Iovine, who totally fucked up [Bruce Springsteen’s] Darkness on the Edge of Town. It sounds like Bruce is in a fucking shoe box full of tissue paper."

Albini has worked with a huge range of artists including Fuzz, Pixies, Nine Inch Nails, Metz, Nirvana and more.