Tasseomancy

Add Date: August 23 

Artist: Tasseomancy 

Album: Ulalume 

Label: Out of This Spark 

Genre: Folk 

Comments: Dark, haunting psychedelic folk from Tasseomancy, the duo of twin sisters and Austra members Sari and Romy Lightman. Produced by Taylor Kirk--who sings on "The Darkness of Things"--and Simon Trottier of Timber Timbre, Ulalume is every bit as eerily beautiful as the music of that band, with sparse-yet-intricate instrumentation that features harpsichord, autoharp, the occasional flute and some light synths on top of acoustic and electric guitars. Meanwhile, with the dual vocals of Sari and Romy, you'll hear similarities to Marissa Nadler, Hope Sandoval or even Joanna Newsom--but just imagine that there were two Marissas, Hopes or Joannas. A pleasant thought, right?

Ulalume is a splendid record, which Nylon Magazine calls "a spooky Halloween soundtrack that you'll want to listen to all year long." Start with tracks 2, 8, 5 and 4.