The Best Freak Folk Bands/Artists

Freak folk is a subgenre of folk music that takes elements of psych folk, avant garde music and baroque pop. These strange genre bedfellows is what comprises the sound of freak folk. Similarly to psych folk, the genre's origins are sewn in the 1960s and like folk music, freak folk bands use acoustic instruments. Over the years, freak folk bands have managed to build a rabid cult following that centers on the hippie-like musicians in the scene. A lot of the best freak folk bands and freak folk artists channel those 1960 hippie folk songs.

So what are the best freak folk bands and freak folk artists? While as we said before freak folk as we know it began in the 1960s, it wasn't until the 2000s where the freak folk genre became to gain more prominence with a larger audience. That can be attributed to the success of the likes of Animal Collective and it's individual members, who have become one of the most popular freak folk bands. That's why Panda Bear and Avey Tare are on here. The same goes for Joanna Newsom and Devandra Banhart, other relatively established freak folk artists who are known among freak folk fans.

That said, it's up to you to determine what are the best freak folk bands and freak folk artists. If you notice a freak folk band isn't on here, feel free to add them. This list answers the questions "who are the best freak folk bands of all time?" and "who is the greatest freak folk musician ever?" If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band's music instead of just voting for the most popular freak folk bands that you might've heard of. {#nodes}