freak folk

Local Natives (formerly cavil at rest) is an indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. After the three founding members originally met in high school, a bassist and a drummer were found, and they all moved to a house in Silver Lake in 2008 to record their album. Their debut album as Local Natives, "Gorilla Manor", was released in the UK on Nov 2nd, 2009, and saw a US release date of Feb. 16th, 2010.

Grizzly Bear is an indie/folk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Their music uses melody and ambiance in conjunction with hazy-eyed choruses, whistles, piano, banjo, and several woodwind instruments. Grizzly Bear was originally the solo project of Edward Droste (vocals/guitar), who recorded his debut album Horn Of Plenty at home. The record was originally meant for his friends, but it eventually circulated and got a proper release in 2004, this time with the help of Christopher Bear (drums/vocals). A re-release with a bonus disc of remixes was issued in 2005.

Akron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and is currently based in New York on the Dead Oceans label. Though each member of the band — Miles Seaton, Seth Olinsky, Dana Janssen and formerly Ryan Vanderhoof can be relegated to loosely defined roles (drummer, guitarist, bassist, vocalist), all of them in fact play several instruments and sing, as evidenced by their shows and recorded material.

Devendra Banhart (Born 30th May 1981 in Houston, Texas, but raised in Venezuela) is a folk singer and composer whose first few records were released on the young god records label from New York City. His most recent CD was released by Warner Brothers. He is one of the most popular artists to come out of the "new weird america" movement, which includes performers such as Faun Fables, Viking Moses, Jack Rose, Jana Hunter, Arborea, The MV & EE Medicine Show, Currituck Co., Six Organs of Admittance, and The Royal We, among others. He also often joins the band known as Vetiver.