Posted by Underground Rocker on February 13, 2010 at 11:57:55:
Not necessarily media related but many of us in media will know the name and impact.
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Iain Burgess dead; produced key Chicago underground bands
Iain Burgess, a producer who worked with many of the key Chicago underground bands of the ‘80s and was an architect of the post-punk scene’s brawny, brawling sound, has died.
Steve Albini, a Chicago recording engineer whose band Big Black worked with Burgess in the ‘80s, posted Friday on his studio Web site that Burgess fell ill while visiting family in Florida and died Thursday of a pulmonary embolism as a complication of liver and pancreatic cancer. Burgess’ age was unavailable.
In addition to pioneering recordings by Big Black, Burgess’ production credits read like a Who’s Who of Midwestern underground music in the ‘80s and early ‘90s: Naked Raygun, Effigies, Ministry, Bloodsport, Pegboy, Poster Children, Bhopal Stiffs, and dozens more. These recordings defined a “Chicago sound” built on no-nonsense elements: powerhouse drumming, prominent bass lines, bold guitars that split the difference between anthemic and anarchic.
Burgess moved to Europe in the early ‘90s, where he continued to work at his Black Box recording studio in the French countryside. While there he recorded bands such as Chicago’s Green and Shellac, Albini’s current trio.
“Iain was a dear friend and mentor, and I consider him responsible for a good many of the best things that have ever happened to me,” Albini wrote on his Web site. “As is the case when someone important dies, I find it hard to imagine the world without him.”