St. Vincent and David Byrne book Greek date, unveil single 'Who'

Last year, amid a lazy summer day in New York's Washington Square Park, Annie Clark teased her next musical direction as St. Vincent. It would be loud and abrasive, and as a point of reference she noted the recent addition of Big Black's “Kerosene” to her live sets. "I didn't know I could scream like that," she said of her sudden excitement toward noise rock.

There's no screaming and no knifing guitars in the song she unveiled today, the first of her long-in-the-works, much-awaited collaboration with former Talking Heads leader David Bryne. The single, available in a free download, is entitled "Who," and it serves as a mash-up of styles that each artist has recently explored. The horn section has a polite, border-less feel -- it's world music preserved for a museum -- and Clark's splashes of manipulated guitar tones and twisted fairy-tale vocals make it less polite. 

The song is the first to surface from the pair's upcoming "Love This Giant," to be released Sept. 11 by 4AD and Byrne’s label Todo Mundo. Perhaps even more exciting is the news that the two will be pairing up for a fall tour, which will bring Byrne and Clark to the Greek Theatre on Oct. 13. Tickets go on sale June 23. A ticket price hasn't been revealed yet, but for reference, a San Diego date is priced at $65, not including service charges.

"We'll be doing these songs and a bunch of songs that we suspect people will know, with a group that includes eight brass players, a keyboardist and a drummer," Byrne said in a statement. "Love This Giant" contains 12 tracks and features a collaboration with rhythm and  soul aces the Dap-Kings and Afrobeat-centric Antibalas. 

Ten of the 12 tracks are described as full-on collaborations, and each artist also contributed one original. A brass band is said to figure heavily on the album, which is evident on the single unveiled today. Yet the star of the song is arguably John Congleton, the drummer-producer whose programmed beats slither and huff, crafting a rhythm that has the feel of pressurized air and gives the song added space. 

Listen here:

Nicki Minaj, Glen Campbell, Wilco among L.A.'s top summer concerts

Southern California’s summer pop music calendar includes Hard Summer, Make Music Pasadena and Rock the Bells festivals.

Nicki Minaj. Skrillex. Glen Campbell’s goodbye tour. Wilco. Some big names in pop are coming to Southern California this summer, promising a decent warm-weather season and the extension of a concert year that already has promoters singing.

Last month, promotion giant Live Nation, which also operates Ticketmaster, reported a 6% increase in ticket sales for the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year -- no doubt due to a spring that has seen Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, the Beach Boys and Roger Waters touring; the Beverly Hills-based company also just promoted three sold-out Coldplay shows at the Hollywood Bowl. With artists such as Justin Bieber and Madonna not making it out West until the fall, the year’s blockbuster tours would seem to conveniently miss L.A.’s summer months.

But music fans still have a lot to celebrate this summer.

The annual downtown dance event known as Hard Summer has expanded from one day to two, and the yet-to-be-announced rock-centric festival known as FYF, also downtown and produced by the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival promoter Goldenvoice, has also stretched from one to two days over Labor Day. A festival spokeswoman says to expect the lineup to be revealed by the end of this month. What’s more, the Dave Matthews Band, one of the concert industry’s biggest stars, will swing through Southern California in September.

Gary Bongiovani, editor of concert-tracking publication Pollstar, also notes that tours are maximizing value: “We’re seeing good solid three-act shows these days. One way to stand out of the fog is to combine and offer fans real value. We see Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Wisin Y Yandel. That’s a great tri-bill. In previous years, we may not have seen that combination of talent.”

Here’s a look at just a few of the big-name acts and can’t-miss shows coming to the L.A. this summer.

Los Lobos' first Cinco de Mayo Festival coming to Greek Theatre

Los Lobos’ performances over the years at the Greek Theatre have always generated a familial sense of community, so the announcement this week of the inaugural Los Lobos Cinco de Mayo Festival at the amphitheater seems only to formalize a recurring gig.

Or maybe not.

“I would definitely put ‘formal’ in quotation marks,” Louie Perez, founding guitarist, percussionist and one of the band’s songwriters, told Pop & Hiss with a laugh. “Nothing is very formal when it comes to us.”

The festival, which actually will take place May 5, will find the venerable East L.A. band joined by X, Mariachi El Bronx, Neko Case, Alejandro Escovedo and likely more names for the afternoon and evening affair. Performances are expected to branch out from the Greek’s main stage to a smaller second stage at a location on the grounds that Perez said is still being worked out.

“We’ve been talking about doing something like this for a long time,” Perez said. “But being a working band whose individual members are always doing stuff … there’s very little time to sit down and do it ourselves. We got real close to putting something together for last fall, but like everything else, stuff started falling through the cracks and that didn’t happen.

Neil Diamond adds two more shows to August run at Greek Theatre

Neil Diamond is extending his run of performances at the Greek Theatre to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1972 10-night stand that yielded his hit “Hot August Night” live album. Along with previously announced shows at the amphitheater on Aug. 11 and 16, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member also will appear Aug. 18 and Aug. 23.  Tickets for the added dates are scheduled to go on sale March 19 at 10 a.m.

Following back-to-back multi-night runs at the Greek in 1971 and 1972, Diamond didn’t return to the facility until 1977, when he recorded another live album “Love at the Greek.” He came back for another week-long run in 1986. The August shows will be his first concerts there since his 1986 engagement.

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-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Neil Diamond snaps pictures of the audience during his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. Credit: Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Lykke Li premieres stark new video on eve of Greek gig

In terms of pure coldness, expect Lykke Li to be nothing less than chilling Wednesday night at the Greek. The serene and cozy setting of the Griffith Park venue is no match for the dramatic, ice-queen vamps of the Swedish singer's more recent work, "Wounded Rhymes," which turns the bubblegum sinister. 

Consider it a dance album that at times feels like a score to a conceptual art project. Li dispenses with the tweenness and niceties of her debut and instead finds comfort in tribal beats and tales of love gone wrong. As a singer, she is direct -- strong, clear and not trying to do too much. A recent show at the Wiltern foreshadowed a theatrical program that should be able to take flight at the Greek. Expect Li's songs to be outfitted in black and white shadows and the occasional winged creature.

The starkness of the below clip offers a pretty good feel for what it's like to step into Li's world. Recorded in Sweden before she left for her current tour, this stripped-down version of the new album's "Jerome" features the artist's band delivering the dark, twisted pop that Li has become so adept at.

Comforting sounds -- the charm of a xylophone -- are turned inside-out, whereas the spookiness of a church organ becomes something of a relaxant. Meanwhile, Li's emotionless stare makes it difficult to turn away, as she imagines her lover shouting, hounding, crying and whining (her words) as she orders, "Swear you'll never leave again."