I first heard this kind of singing when I was about 16 or 17: knew some people in Birmingham who were doing it. Not religious types, they were more into from a trad/cultural angle, as a kind of way to check out some local roots. This Sacred Harp stuff, I tell you, I find it pretty strange. And I've listened to a lot of *strange* music in my time, so it's not a term I use lightly! Now, I want to get into it, but ultimately I find it, somehow... a little unsettling. Oddly disturbing. I always have. And I'm really not sure why. It has a power to it, for sure, but I guess it's not a power that feels entirely, um, right to me. Honestly, I don't know how to explain it. It's very mysterious. But it's good for me to revisit it every now and again. So I thank you for posting this. Listening just now, though, I have to say: my feelings about Sacred Harp haven't changed a bit. It still makes me oddly uncomfortable.

I love how you describe it, flapjax: I think it's a kind of a music that fits the true definition of "sublime": interesting and beautiful, but strange and a little spooky.