heavy guitar riffs, Animal Collective top the bill

The Brothers Unconnected started Saturday off with a great set; a mix of intense acoustic guitar and dark humour, bordering on stand-up. Nobody gets spared their '**** 'em all' style, a natural act to follow the X-rated ATP Bingo hosted by Lord Sinclair elsewhere.

Mick Barr supplied the most intense sound of the weekend, and a lesson in how to play guitar with his black-metal sounds. It's hard to see how one guy can produce so many notes; you're thinking there's a sampled sound in the mix somewhere but there's none. Spectrum's progressive rock set continued the high intensity guitar sound, excellent as ever.

Meat Puppets performed 'Up on the Sun' (1985) in its entirety, my personal favourite set of the weekend but I'm a long-time fan. They admitted to not remembering anything about 1985 (who does, or even wants to?), though seemed flawless enough to my ears. With hindsight it's easy to see just how influential they've been over the years, well ahead of their time in the 80's anyway.

Kria Brekkan's set (ex-múm) provided a little relaxation following all the heavy guitar riffs, with her relaxed Icelandic keyboards/vocals. (pic) She was also notable for her impromptu interpretative dancing at other sets over the weekend, appreciated by some of us. Another highlight was the chilled sounds of Beach House, who also debuted one new tune. They proved captivating enough for me to miss The Frog's set despite the best intentions.

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 put on a very decent Indie Rock performance; their kids watching from the pit in what seemed a very family-orientated weekend on the part of the bands. Kurt Vile & the Violators upped the energy levels once more with their heavy Stoner/Psych Rock set on Reds, one of the better sets of the weekend again. I give up on Animal Collective (Saturday) after 3 numbers due to the sheer amount of talking going on around me (pet hate); it was 1 a.m. and everyone was wasted I guess. Turned out to be a good decision to see them Sunday and better for my blood pressure no doubt.

Latest Updates