Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.
Cock and Swan: Stash (Lost Tribe Sound)
“Sneak Close”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Cock_and_Swan_Sneak_Close.mp3|titles=Cock and Swan: “Sneak Close”]With its fourth album, Stash, Washington duo Cock and Swan makes a sharp departure from the sound of its previous records. Whereas the band was once rooted in haunting, trip-hop-ish electronic music, Stash sees it in a new direction towards a more stripped-down, acoustic aesthetic.
Vieo Abiungo: Thunder May Have Ruined the Moment (Lost Tribe Sound, 4/17/12)
“With Its Slow Decay”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Vieo_Abiungo_Pete_Monro_with_its_slow_decay.mp3|titles=Vieo Abiungo: “With Its Slow Decay”]Multi-multi-multi-instrumentalist, composer, and all-around whiz kid William Ryan Fritch has lent his musical dexterity to a number of film scores, as well as underground rapper Sole and his Skyrider Band. He also has recently begun making a name for himself under the pseudonym Vieo Abiungo, having released two albums in addition to his latest, Thunder May Have Ruined the Moment.
Lost Tribe Sound’s Cock and Swan is set to release its fourth studio effort, Stash, later this month. The album marks a departure from the band’s haunting use of electronics in favor of a more stripped-down acoustic aesthetic, which can be heard in the band’s new video for “Tectonic Plates.”
Composer / multi-instrumentalist Vieo Abiungo ( Sole & The Skyrider Band alum William Ryan Fritch) returns this month with Thunder May Have Ruined the Moment, a collaboration with writer / director Pete Monro that combines African folk and classical orchestral elements.
