ALIXANDER III – INCLINE OF WESTERN SALVATION

Here is what the label says about this outstanding LP – could not have said it better:

Intrenchment is a process by which one borrows for defence, and infers a state of stoic resolution, a steadfast commitment to holding ground. The III in Azari & III and a secret ingredient in many other’s album production, Alphonse Alixander Lanza III returned home from a 3 month tour that burgeoned into 3 years of non-stop circuit riding. Enlivened but wary from the experience, he ensconced himself in his Parkdalian Studio and began a cathartic process of rebuke, reversion and ultimately rebellion.

The Incline of Western Salivation Pt III is Alixander III’s debut solo full length, “full length” being an understatement at almost 2 hours playtime, and though fans of his more obscure releases on labels like I’m A Cliche and Get The Curse might find some connection to this musical arch, those more familiar with AZIII might have to stretch their imaginations a little further. Gone are the swinging 909s and R&B vocals, pop structures and defined melodies. Almost in rejection to those easily swallowed ingredients, here we experience murky, cankerous bass tones fighting for dominion over buzzing metallic disturbances, slowly overwhelmed by the increasing wail of sad but malevolent toxic swamp fairies. Ranging from squishy, mildly erotic through pulsating hypnosis to a climax of relentless thronking cacaphony, the album seems too exist in a closed state of non-self awareness, chasing the dragon down the well into darkness and sublimity.

On their own the individual tracks could function as floor damaging Dj tools, sex aids, nightmare lullabies, sentimental reflection inducers, but as a whole The Incline is a manifesto against the common sensibility, a stark polarization of artifice and the industry that fuels it.