Music Picks: Demdike Stare, A Musical Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron, Natalie Merchant

fri 5/4

PHOTO BY MARION ETTLINGER

Natalie Merchant: See Wednesday.

PHOTO BY DREW REYNOLDS

Los Lobos: See Saturday.

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• Claude VonStroke
• Tomas Barfod
• Kenny Garrett
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Latin Music

Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, Worthy

AVALON

In "The Whistler," one of Claude VonStroke's best-known tracks, the San Francisco–based DJ/producer juxtaposes a repeated grunt with a whistle that could only come from R2-D2. It's weird, raw, funky and sums up his sound nicely. VonStroke is originally from Detroit; his work draws heavily on that city's electronic-music legacy. He's a techno guy, whether or not he's actually playing that genre, making tracks that are gritty instead of glitzy. His is the sound of a party in a dilapidated warehouse, where no one is quite sure if they're living in the past or the future. VonStroke and his label, Dirtybird, are mainstays of the 21st-century electronic underground. But he's also one of the few below-the-radar DJs who can carry a headlining gig at a club the size of Avalon. For this one, he'll be playing with Justin Martin, who produced the first Dirtybird release, and fellow label mate Worthy. Expect Friday night's sets to be outside the norm for weekends in Hollywood, and prepare yourself for a good time. —Liz Ohanesian

Tomas Barfod, Shlohmo, Salva & Grenier

ECHOPLEX

The crucial Friends of Friends label/mindset fulfills your dreams with electronic/dance/other meltdowns: L.A. boy Shlohmo's purveying a mixed-up, sample-based and song-oriented R&B nicely mishmashing lo-fi, hip-hop, trip-hop and dubstep, plus some crushing, odd sound design on his Bad Vibes full-length debut. Danish producer Tomas Barfod traverses house and techno that rarely skimp on persuasive melody and kinda bubbly ambience; his new full-length, Salton Sea, is out May 21. Frite Nite label big cheese Salva and Frisco DJ Grenier teamed up on FTNT014, jacking bassy, jungly-tribal/warehouse and ethereal whimsy on new singles "Wake the Dead"/"Forest Floor." Salva's also a fine, free-thinking remixer of Shlohmo, Barfod, Para One, the Glitch Mob, Beans, Rainbow Arabia and loads of others. —John Payne

Lindsey Buckingham

The WILTERN

Last fall the Fleetwood Mac frontman played UCLA's Royce Hall not long after the release of his latest solo album, Seeds We Sow. But where that gig featured a backing band, tonight he'll go it alone in a show billed as "An Intimate Evening With Lindsey Buckingham." Like the two late-'00s solo discs that preceded it, Seeds warrants the intimate-evening treatment. It's full of complicated, acoustic-guitar music with weird chord progressions and creepy-whisper vocals. (In the unlikely event that you haven't dug out Rumours in a while, re-listen to "Never Going Back Again" to find out where Fleet Foxes and Iron and Wine are coming from.) Expect to hear recent stuff at the Wiltern, along with stripped-down renditions of Fleetwood favorites. —Mikael Wood

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

GREEK THEATRE

Alex Ebert, vocalist of power-pop crew Ima Robot, was suddenly reincarnated in 2009 as Edward Sharpe. The singer's alter ego, who doubled as the leader of a Laurel Canyon boho crew known as the Magnetic Zeros, made it hard to know what to make of him or his new band. But as is generally the case in music, a catchy song eliminates the necessity for backstory. There was "Home," the jangly, sing-along single from their debut album, Up From Below, which found itself on, of all places, an NFL commercial. Now Ebert and his 10-piece backing crew, which includes his ex-girlfriend Jade Castrinos, return later this month with their sophomore effort, Here (recently previewed in full at an intimate KCRW gig in Santa Monica). The saga continues. —Dan Hyman

Also playing:

NIPSEY HUSSLE at Club Nokia; METRO AREA at Los Globos; BRIAN AUGER'S OBLIVION EXPRESS at the Baked Potato; JACQUES VOYEMANT SEPTET at Edye Second Space; MOSES CAMPBELL, RANDOM PATTERNS at Home Room.

sat 5/5

The Weeknd

HOLLYWOOD FOREVER

No artist has given more credence to the neoradical theory that no press is good press than Abel Tesfaye. The 22-year-old Drake-approved Canadian R&B singer who calls himself The Weeknd bum-rushed the Internet last year with a trio of mixtapes — beginning with House of Balloons and concluding with Echoes of Silence — before dropping a goose bump–inducing hook on his rap mentor's chilly cut "Crew Love." Still, all we had was the music. Tesfaye didn't conduct any interviews and even canceled what was to be his first U.S. show last September in NYC. He did recently make his stateside debut(s) over consecutive weeks at Coachella. But here's the reality: Tesfaye's Coachella chops were mediocre, at best. Still, it's the (relative) unknown that keeps this fire fueled. Also Sun. at the Fonda Theatre. —Dan Hyman

Los Lobos, Neko Case, Alejandro Escovedo, Flaco Jiménez, X, Mariachi El Bronx

GREEK THEATRE

For this inaugural edition of the Los Lobos Cinco de Mayo Festival, the lupine band from East L.A. has pulled out all the stops, assembling a lineup of diverse and fascinating performers. Mariachi El Bronx is the mariachi-spiced spinoff of local punk band the Bronx, a seemingly lighthearted side project that has taken on a compelling life of its own. Meanwhile, the longtime bohemian punk poets X — who normally would headline a bill like this — play a supporting role with their black-&-blue anthems of existential desperation. Los Lobos perform tunes from their latest CD, Tin Can Trust (their first album of new songs in four years), augmented by such stellar guests as the Tejano accordionist Flaco Jiménez, powerhouse alt-country belter Neko Case and singer-guitarist Alejandro Escovedo (the Nuns, the True Believers), whose music alternates between ebullient pop-rock ballads and more shadowy, punk-infused dispatches. The lineup is stacked even further with sets by La Santa Cecilia, Ollin and the 44's with Kid Ramos outside on the plaza. —Falling James