The Ascension

I was asked to post a favourite album sleeve earlier today on Facebook and among the short list was the cover of Glenn Branca's 1981 album The Ascension, which features Robert Longo's fantastic charcoal drawing of a man dragging, one presumes, the dead body of another man. The untitled drawing is part of Robert Longo's Men in the Cities series which features well dressed professionals, men and women in strange and contorted poses. Interestingly an associated illustration of the one featured on the cover of The Ascension identifies the upright man as Glenn Branca. All this musing on Longo's drawing has me listening to The Ascension right now, and with the house to myself I'm enjoying a rare treat of playing it loud ! The DNA of Swans, godspeed you black emperor! and of course Sonic Youth can be heard on this album - Lee Ranaldo was part of The Ascension's sextet and I love this line he wrote for the CD's liner notes: "The album that you hold in your hand - the city in which this music was made no longer exists on the face of the earth"