David Byrne & St. Vincent have confirmed the September 11 release of their album, ‘Love This Giant,’ to be released worldwide by 4AD under exclusive license from Byrne’s label Todo Mundo.* Recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, NJ, the album is a collaboration in the truest sense of the word, with Byrne and St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) co-writing ten of the album’s twelve tracks, and each artist penning one song individually. The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming. See below for complete tracklisting.

Byrne and Clark will launch a 24-date fall tour on September 15 in Minneapolis. “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,” s ays Byrne of the tour. See below for complete dates.

“There was no delineating what the roles were,” explains Clark of the recording. “It’s a collaboration I’m truly proud of.” The duo also split lyrical and vocal duties on the record, which despite eschewing a traditional guitar/bass/drums lineup in favor of idiosyncratic horn arrangements, presents itself as infectious and modern hook-laden rock.

Byrne and Clark met in 2009 at the ‘Dark Was the Night’ benefit at Radio City Music Hall and were approached shortly after by the Housing Works Bookstore to collaborate on a night of music. They began composing remotely, trading song ideas and structures online while Clark toured and it quickly became apparent that they had more than just one night of music in them. Byrne performed with Clark at her ‘American Songbook’ show at Lincoln C enter in 2010, and Clark contributed vocals to Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’ album, released the same year. Stay tuned for more info on the album and tour.

‘Love This Giant’ Tracklist:
1. Who
2. Weekend in the Dust
3. Dinner For Two
4. Ice Age
5. I Am An Ape
6. The Forest Awakes
7. I Should Watch TV
8. Lazarus
9. Optimist
10. Lightning
11. The One Who Broke Your Heart (featuring The Dap-Kings and Antibalas)
12. Outside of Space & Time

David Byrne & St. Vincent Tour Dates:
</>9/15 - Minneapolis, MN @ State Theater
9/16 - Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
9/18 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
9/23 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
9/25 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theater
9/26 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theater
9/27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater
9/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Park
9/30 – N. Bethesda MD @ The Music Center at Strathmore
10/2 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
10/3 – Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Center
10/5 – Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
10/6 – Houston, TX @ Hobby Center
10/7 - Dallas, TX @ McFarlin Memorial Auditorium (SMU)
10/10 – San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s
10/11 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theatre
10/12 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Segerstrom Theater for the Arts
10/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theater
10/15 – San Francisco, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
10/17 – Seattle, WA @ 5^th Ave Theatre
10/18 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium

David Byrne & St. Vincent on the Web:
http://www.lovethisgiant.com

Annie Clark of St. Vincent is way cooler than anyone thought.  Here she is singing and crowd surfing at KXT’s Summer Cut. 

Fans from all over flocked to KXT’s Summer Cut festival to see performances by The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Fitz and the Tantrums, Telegraph Canyon and more at the Gexa Energy Pavillion Friday, June 2. Photos by Stanton J. Stephens.

Though you wouldn’t know it from the name,St. Vincent is the stage name for singer-songwriter Annie Erin Clark. She has released three studio albums, some more commercially successful than the other, but all to high critical acclaim.

Raised in  Dallas, Clark graduated from  Lake  Highlands  High School  in 2001, attended three years of school at Berklee College of Music, and then dropped out to move back home and pursue a music career. After touring overseas with the Polyphonic Spree, and then here  in  America  with Sufjan Stevens,  Clark broke away in 2006 and began her solo track.

Her albums, Marry Me, Actor, and Strange Mercy reflect a critical stage in Clark’s life, whether it was her transition to college, the relaxation period after her first solo tour, or simply her realization of self discovery and awareness. By incorporating various instruments, including guitar, piano, organ, violin, trumpets, and a variety of others, St. Vincent creates a unique sound of music that must be heard live to be truly appreciated.

See St. Vincent in all her glory at KXT’s Summer Cut Happy Funtime Festival at the Gexa Energy Pavilion on June 1^st.

Get tickets for Summer Cut here!

Want to know more? Visit her website.

image credit.

The Best of 2011 Listener Poll was fun.  It was like having an online chalkboard for folks to list their favorite albums and songs.  KXT didn’t give choice in the matter: it was all listener generated. 

It’s no lie the Adele fans are out there ready to vote and make sure their girl is on top!  Go Team Adele.  Aside from that, it’s so heartening to see local bands represent in a big way with KXT 91.7 listeners, what with Air Review, Seryn and St. Vincent landing in the top ten songs list. Go local y’all.

But what about all the OTHER bands that didn’t make the Top 10?  After excluding non-2011 releases & obvious bogus entries, here are the runners up in the Best of 2011 Listener Poll.

Album runners up: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, Florence and the Machine - Ceremonials, Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin’ Up The Pieces, The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow, The Orbans - When We Were Wild, Old 97s - Grand Theatre Vol. 2, Feist - Metals, Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys, Beirut - The Rip Tide, Radiohead - The King of Limbs, Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire, TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light, M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost, My Morning Jacket - Circuital, Givers - In The Light, THe Head And THe Heart - The HEad And The HEart, Sarah Jaffe - The Way Sound Leaves a Room, Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes, Calhoun - Heavy Sugar, Real Estate - Days, Jessie Frye - Fireworks Child, REM - Collapse Into Now, Foo Fighters - Wasting Light, tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L, Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What

Songs runners up:  M83 - Midnight City, Decemberists - Calamity Song, Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, Adele - Rumour Has It, Ryan Adams - Lucky Now, Death Cab For Cutie - You Are A Tourist, Lana del Rey - Video Games, Mumford and Sons - The Cave, The Orbans - New Dress, Fitz & The Tantrums - Don’t Gotta Work It Out, Foster The People - Helena Beat, Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, Wilco - I Might, Head And The Heart - Down In The Valley, Civil Wars - Poison And Wine, Givers - Saw You First, Old 97s - Perfume, Beirut - Santa Fe, Givers - Up Up Up, Dawes - Time Spent in Los Angeles, Jessie Frye - Like A Light, The Orbans - Like a Liar

Recently added to the KXT Playlist: St. Vincent - “Cruel” (by 4ADRecords)

New video from St. Vincent’s upcoming album ‘Stranger Mercy’, St. Vincent - “Cruel” (by 4ADRecords)

On her sophomore release, Actor, Annie Clark ( a.k.a. St. Vincent) continues to woo listeners with her rich voice and lush orchestration. But don’t let the ethereal facade fool you. Clark’s lyrics reveal stories of dishonesty, anxiety, hurt and paranoia so beautifully, you may not immediately sense the dark undercurrents of her words. On “Actor Out of Work,” Clark sings of a toxic relationship headed for failure and the desire to push away from it. Check out the above video to see the singer-songwriter’s clever, yet eerie visual interpretation.