freak folk

http://www.myspace.com/feathersfamily
Looking (and often sounding) as though they've been sent directly from central casting, the psych-folk octet Feathers originate from the same fertile New England climates that generated the wayfaring likes of Tower Recordings and the MV & EE Medicine Show. The arrival of their debut album on Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's Gnomonsong label has not gone unheralded, since the group have built a promising reputation through their guest appearances on Banhart's Cripple Crow and opening for such acts as Sufjan Stevens, Dinosaur Jr.

Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) started taking piano lessons at a very early age and played for a couple of years, but switched to the harp at seven. Her approach to the harp, from the percussive aspects of her playing to her chord changes, was also influenced by West African and Venezuelan harp music, which she began studying at a folk music camp she attended in her early teens. At the same time, she also listened to more vocal-based folk, punk, and jazz like Karen Dalton, Texas Gladden, Patti Smith, and Billie Holiday.

tUnE-yArDs is the moniker of Oakland-based musician Merrill Garbus. To date, she has two full-length studio albums and is currently signed to the British independent record label 4AD. She was formerly a member of Sister Suvi. Her debut album Bird-Brains was first released on limited edition vinyl and cassette in June 2009, via the Portland-based imprint Marriage Records. In July 2009, it was announced that tUnE-yArDs had signed to 4AD, and a limited edition pressing of BiRd-BrAiNs was released on August 17, 2009.

So-named after infamous soundsystem experiments by obvious influences The Flaming Lips, The Parking Lot Experiments are a Melbourne free-k pop ensemble ecstatically making music that glitters with charm and smiles, that wilfully escapes genres by being so hyper-inclusive, and that will almost certainly make you want to hug your friends. Currently consisting of brothers Andrew and David Connor, Lloyd Pratt and Justin Schachter (don't bother working out who plays what), often with other friends and family joining in.