Ut

Oxford promoters are putting on an Ut show at Common Ground on September 10. Via their Instagram, Divine Schism note of the bill:

“We are stoked to say that New York no-wave legends Ut (who were wonderfully name checked by Le Tigre in Hot Topic!) are joined by all female supergroup & Oxford’s slow-core duo And What on Weds, 10th Sept at Common Ground, Oxford. This is going to be a night of radical left-field noise-art — Rainham Sheds blew the skies away at Supernormal last weekend and this is And What’s first show in a very long time.

“We saw Ut play in Nottingham last year and this is their last remaining show of 2025. Founded by Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham and Sally Young in NYC in Dec 1978 and purveying a sound collision between rock, free jazz and the avant-garde, Ut migrated to London in 1981, played with bands like The Fall and The Birthday Party and released music on their own label before disbanding in 1990 and then began performing again in 2010. This is a show not to be missed — hop on it, Oxford! All ages and wheelchair accessible show from 7:30pm.” Ticket link in bio! 🎟

I was a novice in the studio, and Steve worked with and educated me — and the UT Ludwig Panther kit — to tune the skins musically and to understand where I was coming from —to release the “inner Bonham” in me! And of course, he went on to work with Jimmy Page & Robert Plant. Don’t rest TOO peacefully, Steve! - Charlie D. | 📷: Charlie D. studio shots taken during the Griller sessions

There are many things I could say about Steve Albini. Yes, he was very funny, witty and highly articulate.

When he engineered Griller for UT, he invented amusing alternative titles for all our songs that made us laugh. When we remastered Griller in 2020, we came across these titles written on the reels, which made us chuckle again. Steve once introduced me to one of his poker
friends as a member of UT and gave him such an extraordinarily articulate, comprehensive and complimentary synopsis of the band that I was left
speechless afterwards. It should have been recorded and included in a book.

But what I’d like to highlight is Steve’s exceptional generosity. When UT split in 1990, I formed the band Quint. He engineered Quint’s single (“Blueprint to a
Blackout”/“Sawtooth”) for John Loder’s Southern Records for no fee while he was in London recording The Auteurs. He then offered Quint support slots for two Shellac dates in London. Both gigs sold out and he split the money evenly 50/50 between Quint and Shellac, and it was a lot. This was at a time when you were lucky to be handed £50 for opening as a support for any band. The money
Steve gave us enabled Quint to go into a studio and record and release our album, Time Wounds All Heals.

I’m sure we weren’t the only band that benefitted from his unusual altruism. I imagine we’ll hear similar stories from others as to his incredible generosity. He was truly one of a kind — there was no one else like him. -Sally Young