\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA gold record award for Nirvana<\/a>\u2018s final album, 1993\u2019s In Utero<\/a><\/em> \u2014 which was presented to Steve Albini<\/a>, who recorded the album, and kept in his archives for decades \u2014 is now for sale. The late engineer\u2019s experience with the project became fraught when the trio\u2019s label insisted on remixes, arguing that Albini\u2019s approach was too abrasive. The plaque, which recognizes sales in Indonesia and has a peculiar backstory, is available through Steve Albini\u2019s Closet, launched after the engineer\u2019s death. The blind-bid auction<\/a> starts at $5,000; bidding ends May 3.<\/p>\n \n\tThe listing for the award explains how Albini\u2019s punk-rock politics led him to get an Indonesian award. \u201cWhen Steve was sent his RIAA Gold Record Award for In Utero<\/em>, he returned it to the band\u2019s management, as part of his philosophical stance against major labels and how they operate,\u201d it says. \u201cLater, perhaps at the behest of others, he requested that the award be returned. Alas, it was no longer available, although what exactly happened to it is unclear.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn its stead, and presumably as a slap-back of sorts, Steve was sent this INDONESIAN Gold Record Award for In Utero<\/em>,\u201d the listing continues. \u201cAnd that was the sole souvenir of the multi-platinum record in his archives. So, no, it is not the RIAA version, whose current whereabouts are unknown, but it IS the one Steve had and kept.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNoted Pixies fan Kurt Cobain<\/a> wanted Albini, who had a bad reputation at the time thanks to having fronted a band called Rapeman and essays he\u2019d written, to record Nirvana based on his love for Surfer Rosa <\/em>and other LPs Albini had helmed in the late Eighties and early Nineties. Cobain was also a fan of Albini\u2019s first band, Big Black, and had attended their farewell concert in Seattle<\/a>. \u201cIf he turns out to be an asshole, I\u2019ll at least use him for his recording abilities,\u201d Cobain told Michael Azerrad in the book Come as You Are<\/em>. \u201cDefinitely a few sexist things leaked out of him, but that\u2019s just the scene he\u2019s in.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Cobain approached Albini to record their third album in the fall of 1992, after Nevermind<\/em> had become a worldwide hit, Albini said he\u2019d have to think about it. In a four-page fax that he sent to the band in November 1992, he praised their instinct to \u201cbang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but minimal \u2018production\u2019 and no interference from the front-office bulletheads.\u201d He also spelled out how he saw his role: \u201cI think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. \u2026 I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job, and you pay me what it\u2019s worth.\u201d Albini wrote that he wouldn\u2019t be able to sleep at night if he took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trio. He reportedly accepted a mere $100,000 for his services.<\/p>\n