Joanna Newsom paid tribute to Steve Albini — the engineer on her acclaimed 2006 album Ys — during the singer’s set Friday at Utah’s Kilby Block Party.

Stereogum reports that prior to Newsom’s performance of “Cosmia,” one of the Ys tracks she recorded with Albini, the singer gave an emotional speech about how much the noise-rock pioneer meant to her.

“So the last few days have been pretty sad because of the loss of Steve Albini, who I love very, very much and admire in every possible way you can admire a person,” Newsom said. 

“I was saying to my friend this morning that like on the list of all the reasons why he’s my hero, music and music-related stuff doesn’t even crack the top ten. He’s been so enormously important in my life musically for so many years, but still just as a human, as a person, as a hilarious, loving, loyal friend to so many people. I miss him. I’m gonna miss him so much. I haven’t accepted it yet.”

In addition to Ys — one of Albini’s essential recordings — Newsom, who previously called Albini “pretty much the best producer in the world,” also enlisted Albini to engineer her 2015 LP Divers.

“I was in this small room with Steve Albini and nobody else, and I was playing the songs exactly as they are, and it was a pretty intense time,” Newsom said in an interview shortly after Ys’ release. “I had it candlelit, in the dark with just candles and conjuring up these pretty insane moments that I had been experiencing…. There’s something about the way Steve recorded me and the environment in which it was done. There was a sense of closeness and spontaneity, and I felt extremely emotionally on edge, and I went through these vocal takes. I was just wrecked afterwards because it was such an emotional experience.”

Newsom concluded Friday’s tribute by adding, “He recorded the album that this next song is on, as well as so much other stuff that I’ve done. I can’t believe I don’t get to record with him again, but I love Steve. I love you, Steve. This one’s for you.”

Following Albini’s death earlier this week at the age of 61, many of the artists he collaborated with — like Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, PJ Harvey, Superchunk, his Big Black bandmate Santiago Durango, and more — have shared tributes and remembrances of the legendary musician, producer, and writer.

It is essential for moderate voices to be heard and represented in our political system.

It is clear to me that the future of democracy in Utah relies on the preservation of SB54 and the use of signature gathering for candidates to secure a spot on election ballots.

Attending the Utah Republican Convention as a first-time state delegate was an eye-opening experience. The atmosphere was filled with negativity and hostility, with candidates resorting to fear-mongering and baseless attacks rather than offering constructive solutions for the betterment of our state. It was disheartening to see moderate candidates being voted down by those seeking to emulate divisive figures like Donald Trump.

It is essential for moderate voices to be heard and represented in our political system. This can only happen if more moderate voters actively participate in the caucus process, become delegates and help shape the conventions to accurately reflect the diverse range of Republican thought in Utah.

Suzanne Dailey, Salt Lake City

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Utah is headed to to the Pac-12 softball tournament championship for the second year in a row.

After winning the inaugural tournament title last season — the Utes went on an NCAA tournament run winning the Pac-12 to make their first College World Series appearance since 1994 — Utah is one game away from another guaranteed NCAA tournament appearance.

The Utes shook off a slow start in conference play and went 13-4 in April, then closed the regular season with two wins over then-No. 9 Washington.

A six-seed, the Utes beat third-seeded Oregon 7-4 on Thursday thanks to a three-run home run by Shonty Passi in the seventh inning to advance to the semifinals against second-seeded Stanford on Friday.

Behind strong pitching performances from starting pitcher Sarah Ladd and Mariah Lopez, the Utes held the Cardinal to just one run.

The Utes took an early 2-0 lead on a Kaylah Nelsen RBI single in the first inning, and she followed it up with another RBI single in the third inning.

From there, it was a defensive stalemate between the two teams, especially when Stanford’s NiJaree Canady entered in the fifth inning.

The Cardinal threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs, and scoring a run after Lopez hit Taryn Kern.

The next batter, Emily Jones, hit a ground ball, and while running from second to third base, Kaitlyn Lim ran into Passi at shortstop and was called out due to runner’s interference, sending the Utes to the championship.

Utah will play the winner of first-seeded UCLA and fifth-seeded Arizona on Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT. The championship game will be televised on ESPN2.