Saturday 22/08/09 Green Man Festival, Day Two @ Brecon Beacons, Wales

Bacchanalian adventures colour the acoustic/leftfield programming of Saturday. But where's the musical saw? Nottingham's Soundcarriers open Main Stage with driving, Stereolab-like 60's Francophile pop that's glorious and open-ended on 'Caught By The Sun', with dreamy bliss-pop on 'Calling Me', other times like Jefferson Airplane. Backed by Rohner smooth keys, linear riffs and lilting female vocals, it's 'Let It Ride' that pulses in the blood. Next, emergent act Stornoway (Oxford, ironically) sound like a Caledonian Bright Eyes, weaving maritime themed folk-rock songs, a country-folk heart-worn tale singing - "...put your foot down harder, drive on...", sweet love-songs on the single 'Zorbing', and capturing Zeus's rays on 'I Saw You Blink'. Stornoway are purposeful and necessary, urging us to get out of the boxes we live in on banjo-fied 'We Are The Battery Human', an anthem for ramblers, singing - "...we were born to be free range...".

Virtuoso with uke, cello, flute, xylophone, Fender Rhodes and song-book 'The Sleeper' for the world-weary, The Leisure Society bring Christmas cheer to everyday as on 'The Darkest Place I Know'. With evergreen chamber-folk, 'Love's Enormous Wings' is a mega-bliss swoon, while 'Bonafide' is inspired by 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', yet it's heart-opener 'Last Of The Melting Snow' with a gone-era DNA that's timeless and diamond encrusted. Nick Lemming is asked to turn the guitar up to '8' for an 'up' newbie, singing "...I am a dancing bear, you are a magazine...", 'Save It For Someone Who Really Cares' is witty and baroque, yet who could anticipate the tune learnt from the radio - an awesome chamber cover of Gary Numan's 'Cars' that's the vintage toast.

Blue Roses come linked to Bella Union artists, so worth checking youthful Yorkshire lass, Laura Groves - a Joanna Newsom/Laura Barrett-esque falsetto vocalist singing narrative songs with electric piano, it's daisy chain melodies and winsome arias on 'Greatest Thoughts' and 'Imaginary Flights', other times haunting and dramatic - succour before the ensuing lunacy.

Gordon Anderson is tuning his guitar, and goes tumbling through the cosmos pre-performance with 'Boats', so it's a firm hand and pulled plugs to get him off stage so The Aliens can land with their glorious 'Luna' songs. So let's get whoopeedoo and lsyergic. 'Robot Man' serves as amuse bouche with squelchy keys and moon-walks, while Anderson calms his nerves on the cosmic-grief of 'Theremin', eloquent and mysterious. Anderson then goes on to explain his somewhat Jekyll & Hyde nature, which involved a tad of hooch, and well, he's gonna be ejected after the show...Truculence ain't tolerable here, but The Who-ish 'Billy Jack' is - stunningly, and 'Magic Man' forms a stomping ass-belter with 'Helter Skelter' add-ons.

Toast du jour, Grizzly Bear, have scored one of the albums of the year with 'Veckatimest', a retro-geist Aladdin's Cave trove of delights with vocal harmonies and simplicity the counter-weights among vintage basement tape auras. 'Southern Point' and the hearthside harmonics of 'Two Weeks' are extraordinary in scope, ideas, and execution, while 'Fine For Now' convinces with verse - "...there is time, so much time..." serving as antidote to the information age and ripping up the Main Stage with blistering guitars. Finishing with a swirling, thrashed-out cadence, 'On A Neck, On A Spit' is a howling vintage belter par excellence to wax the seal.

There's the first major clash of the weekend with Andrew Bird performing at the same time as Bon Iver, but Main Stager Justin Vernon wins the tug. There's massive anticipation, delight, and a reverential air before his time for Vernon that finds him catapulted to be a legend in the making. Detractors think "cheer up son!", but 'Flume' and 'Lump Sum' openers have the audience in Vernon's palms, electrifying with the four-piece band adding textures. Out with the steel, 'Skinny Love' has the audience fill in the oblique verse with "my my my", while drums on 'Creature Fear/Team' build the cadence and Vernon wrangles his guitars with reverb crescendo's adding to the spellbinding nature, while 'Re: Stacks' is solo, poignant, and arresting. Recent tracks 'Blood Bank' and 'Babies' get away from 'For Emma' and don't detract so much as complete the performance, while the alt-country of the titular 'For Emma' has heart-stopping beauty, no less.