VOGA, Folktronica, Klezmer, Ole!

CLARK GIVES BIRTH: The Santa Barbara band Clark is the dreamy
side-project of Gabriel Friley, whose main band is the excellent
Widescreen Reason. This Saturday at The Mercury Lounge, the
Clarksters will be lulling the crowd into auditory submission with
a CD release show for their gorgeous new album Here Comes Tomorrow,
(Silent Film Records). Friley’s vox and thoughtful acoustic guitar,
coupled with wife Dana’s fingerpickin’ geetar and sweet backing
vocals, blended with Andy White’s multi-instrumentation, bring to
mind a little bit of Nick Drake. Their songs of love, loss, and
rebirth will tear you apart and put you back together again.
Joining the festivities will be ambient L.A. band El Ten Eleven.
Chili cook-off at 6 p.m., show starts at 9:30.  — Brier Random

LIVE CARTOONS? On Sunday, February 19 you’ll have the
once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a real live cartoon! Well, not
quite, but they do have a cartoonish name. The Supersuckers
(pictured), described as both a “human cartoon” and the “greatest
rock ’n’ roll band in the world,” play SOhO this weekend. They have
been together for almost two decades, in that time managing to
release three rock records, one country record, tour the world with
bands such as Social Distortion (who play the Majestic Ventura
Theatre on Saturday, February 18) and Bad Religion, have their
music appear on TV, and even start their own label, Mid-Fi
Recordings. Their goal is simple: create music that is quality and
timeless and get as many people to hear it.  — Patrick Brogan

FANTASTIC FOLKTRONICA: Petracovich will be bringing her special
blend of folktronica to Reds on Sunday, February 19, with her
producer Tad Wagner and songwriter Frankel. Petracovich’s hectic
So. Cal schedule also includes two separate KCSB 91.9 FM radio
appearances: Thursday, February 16, from 6 to 8 a.m., and Friday,
February 17 at 7:15 a.m. Her most recent album, We Are Wyoming, is
generating a lot of attention and her live performances always keep
the audience entertained with just the right combination of
substance and spectacle.  — Will Engel

LOWDOWN ON LEMBO: Co-founder of the Southern California band Raw
Silk, Leslie Lembo celebrates her birthday and 20 years of music in
Santa Barbara with a SOhO performance on February 20. Citing
influences of legends Aretha Franklin, Sarah Vaughn, and James
Taylor, Lembo sings with a technique derived from a combination of
yoga and voice training, appropriately tradenamed VOGA, which she
teaches at the Music Academy of the West. Lembo’s “community jam”
will reunite Raw Silkers Mychal Lomas, George Friedenthal, and Dan
Zimmerman, who’ll be bolstered by saxophonist Justin Claveria and
drummer Donzell Davis. Chic Street Man opens with his acoustic
ballads, funky rhythms, and unique folk influence.  — Stephanie
Cain

BEYOND KLEZMER: Beyond the Pale, a quintet from Toronto,
combines mandolin, bass, accordion, clarinet, violin, and
percussion to produce a sound which has eluded classification for
several years. Its 2001 debut Routes — full of world music, roots,
Balkan, reggae, acoustic funk, Jewish fusion, and Jewish
folk — earned the band a nomination at the Canadian Independent
Music Awards. In the fall of 2004, the group released Consensus, an
album that elaborates on the unorthodox hybridization of styles. It
pulses with elements of Klezmer, Yiddish, Romanian, and Balkan
themes. Beyond the Pale plays the Santa Barbara Hillel on February
16 at 7 p.m. Call 957-1115.  — Alastair Bland

MERGE YOUR ELEMENTS: Watching Donnie Darko the other day, I was
hit hard by the Tears For Fears song, “Mad World.” Little did I
know it was a remake by an artist named Gary Jules, who will be
playing next week as part of a once-monthly night of songwriters at
SOhO called Element. Jules will be joined by songwriter Tim Jones
and troubadour du jour, Brett Dennen, who made two big
crowd-captivating splashes at SOhO in December. Balancing out the
testosterone is the smoky-voiced Jessie Baylin, whose grassrootsy
style draws comparisons to Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell. It goes
down Tuesday, February 21.