Arborea

This is mostly sparse, depressing, ambient, even a bit psychedelic folk. A decent reference point would be Rivulets or a really ambient Miranda Sex Garden, but you might find others. These folks are from Maine. Starting with track 5, you begin to hear some backward tape noises (which I find thrilling, particularly in this context) and more ambiguous sounds, even strings. Vocals are female and are often used sparingly. This is really ponderous music, some of it is very good.

rec: 2, 7, 9, (also 1, 3, 5)

1 dark sparse singing, lullaby, two or more voices
2 this one seems a bit more like a more folky Cocteau Twins or something else I can't put my finger on
3 like a gothic Western, Rivulets-like
4 traditional
5 backwards tapes jell very well w/ the singing, strings come in later going back-and-forth with the singing
6 male vocals, plucking, a bit more traditional
7 slow, ambient, dark, backwards tape noise
8 starts out almost identical to 4, traditional banjo piece in C minor, soft, ethereal vocals, then more traditional almost Appalachian singing, strings come in
9 strings, dark ambient, dark lullaby
10 plucked strings, high pitched singing, nearly arpeggio, a bit less twisted
11 ambient, dark, plucked strings