Grouper "Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill" (2008)

What a deceptive album this is!  At first it is haunting, ethereal.  It is tantalizing, slipping slightly out of hearing, seemingly disappearing as you try to focus on it.

On closer listening, it's remarkable how much of its sound is actually production techniques covering up the actual music.  Her voice is weak and thin, barely capable of holding a tune.  The guitar playing is simple and repetitive.  None of the parts are remarkable or worth much consideration.

And yet the whole is really quite remarkable.