Part of a long line of avant-garde weirdoes from the Bay Area, Caroliner -- aka Caroliner Rainbow -- often describes itself as "industrial bluegrass," which is likely the closest anyone ever came to pegging their uncategorizable sound. Their songs are rooted in 19th-century Americana and the sort of primitive folk found on the Harry Smith Anthology, but usually came wrapped in a thick crust of experimental noise and a bone-dry, dadaist sense of humor. Their records are just as likely to recall musique concrète or early industrial as country, folk, and bluegrass; everything in between is fair game as well, from early jazz to Eastern music to electronics. Their arrangements tended toward the minimal -- usually centered around banjo, violin, organ, and bass -- but often veer into noise-rock or elaborate orchestrations as well. Often sung by tape-altered voices, Caroliner lyrics are littered with pioneer and cowboy imagery from the Old West, but from a distinctly twisted perspective, with a flair for the macabre.
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Caroliner: http://www.myspace.com/carolinerrainbowherniami