Logic is a conceptual dude. His second album, The Incredible True Story, was about a group of friends flying around the universe in spaceship. His third album, Everybody, was about a man who died and was subsequently reincarnated in different bodies. The Maryland rapper has kept it simple since he came out of retirement. His latest project, however, has restored some of his ambition. Ultra 85, the upcoming Logic album, will coincide with the release of a novel of the same name.
Logic confirmed the existence of the novel via Instagram on April 24. He not treated fans to what the cover art looked like, but provided some context for the novel (and presumably, the album). "In the year 2115, when the Earth is no longer inhabitable, the remainder of humanity lives in Babel, a giant space station," he wrote in the caption. "Two pilots, Quentin and Kai, must find the planet Paradise, where only the most promising citizens are allowed to live." The rapper explained that his main characters will be forced to confront the fact that "Paradise" is not all it's cracked up to be.
The plot details for Ultra 85 confirms that it will be a sequel to The Incredible True Story and Everybody. It will mark the completion of the titular story, nearly a decade later. Ultra 85 will also be the second time Logic pairs an album up with a companion novel. He released the novel Supermarket in 2017, which came with a titular album in which Logic explored the rock and punk genres. The latter was panned by most critics, but the novel was actually given positive notices.
Ultra 85 is currently available for pre-order on Simon & Schuster. It will be released on September 17. Fans have flocked to the comment section to speculate whether the accompanying album will drop on the same day. Both the Supermarket album and novel dropped on March 26, 2019, so it stands to reason the rapper would trot out a similar rollout for Ultra 85. Logic previously claimed that Ultra 85 would be his last album, but he's since clarified his statement. He told a Reddit user during a Q&A that he will always make music, but that Ultra 85 will be his last album under the "Logic" moniker. The rapper first teased Ultra 85 back in 2018, though it has gone through several iterations since.
The second single from the album, "44ever," was released April 19.
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Nirvana‘s social media accounts have shared the four-page letter Steve Albini sent to them, proposing that he produce their landmark album ‘In Utero’.
Today (May 9), Nirvana’s X (formerly Twitter) account published the four-page proposal, in which Albini wrote of his approach and methodology to music and how he planned to handle the recording of ‘In Utero’.
The post comes after it was revealed yesterday (May 8) that Albini had died at the age of 61 due to a heart attack. The legendary producer and musician’s death was confirmed by his recording studio, Electronic Audio.
In Albini’s four-paged proposal, he famously declared that “if a record takes more than a week to make, somebody’s fucking up”.
“I think the very best thing you could do at this point is exactly what you are talking about doing: bang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but minimal ‘production’ and no interference from the front office bulletheads,” he wrote. “If that is indeed what you want to do, I would love to be involved.”
“If, instead, you might find yourselves in the position of being temporarily indulged by the record company, only to have them yank the chain at some point (hassling you to rework songs/sequences/production, calling-in hired guns to ‘sweeten’ your record, turning the whole thing over to some remix jockey, whatever…) then you’re in for a bummer and I want no part of it.”
He continued: “I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my ass for you. I’ll work circles around you.”
Albini wrote of his recording methodology: “I consider the band the most important thing, as the creative entity that spawned both the band’s personality and style and as the social entity that exists 24 hours out of each day. I do not consider it my place to tell you what to do or how to play. I’m quite willing to let my opinions be heard (if I think the band is making beautiful progress or a heaving mistake, I consider it part of my job to tell them) but if the band decides to pursue something, I’ll see that it gets done.”
He then noted that he likes to “leave room for accidents and chaos”. “If every element of the music and dynamics of a band is controlled by click tracks, computers, automated mixes, gates, samplers and sequencers, then the record may not be incompetent, but it certainly won’t be exceptional.”
Albini also declined royalties for producing and mixing the album in his proposal, writing: “I do not want and will not take a royalty on any record I record. No points. Period. I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It’s the band’s fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it’s a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band.”
“I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,00 dollars or so. There’s no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”
Albini fronted the likes of underground bands such as Shellac, Big Black, Rapeman and Flour. Besides ‘In Utero’, he was most well known for being the producer of major albums such as Pixies’ ‘Surfer Rosa’, PJ Harvey’s ‘Rid of Me’, Manic Street Preachers‘ ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ and more.
Shellac recently announced ‘To All Trains’, their first album in 10 years which is set for release next week (May 17) and were preparing to embark on a tour.
Speaking to NME last year, Albini shared that being forever associated with Nirvana due to his work on their 1993 final album ‘In Utero‘ was no albatross. “It’s totally normal, it’s perfectly reasonable,” the producer and audio engineer told NME. “If you had never heard of me before and someone is trying to introduce me to you, they are going to name the famous records that I worked on – and ‘In Utero’ is the most famous.”
Last year, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic spoke to NME and recalled working with the producer and how the band landed on the post-‘Nevermind’ sound of the record. “Kurt was a fan of Albini,” he said. “I remember being in a tour van in 1989 and Kurt was listening to Pixies. He raised his finger and said, ‘This shall be our snare sound!’ He wanted to do it with Steve for a long time.”
Kurt Cobain had been a known admirer of Albini’s music before he worked with Nirvana, having been in attendance when his band Big Black played their last ever show in 1987. During the first session, he brought with him a piece of the guitar Albini had smashed during the gig.
Following the news of Steve Albini’s death, several musicians have paid tribute to the late musician, producer and engineer. You can read tributes from Jarvis Cocker, Pixies and more here.
