glenn branca – the ascension (1981)

“The only reason why I ever even bother to pay the slightest attention to this fucking world is because I love music.” – G.B

Few records will ever ask as many questions about rock or life as Glenn Branca’s The Ascension. In Branco’s 1981, the art world had fossilised and underground ideas were at risk of being locked down below forever. That impenetrable art circle needed to be punctured at a guerilla level and when this rugged, individualist perfectionism was blasted through an army of amps, it dissected the world around it. There’s a violence to The Ascension: it is wholly apolitical, but the fundamental ideas about dissonance and harmony echo a savage rebellion. This would be a great time capsule item for any decaying society looking to show off to its successors. 

30/30

A favourite: ‘Light Field’