Joanna Newsom charms, Boredoms the standout act of the weekend

Saturday headaches could be soothed by watching Hungarian folk duet A Hawk and A Hacksaw's cinematic performance on Crazy Horse stage. From the shadows of the stage they performed a live soundtrack to the film 'Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors' by Sergei Parajanov. Good as this was it would have been nice to see a little of the duet themselves; they can put on a quite visually appealing show in their own right. The duo performed as usual with violin and accordion.

Early afternoon now, Japanese ensemble Boredoms were up next and their highly anticipated set had created a bit of a buzz again amongst the audience.

Organised onstage like an orchestra, a circle of five drummers and two crescents of a total of fourteen guitarists looked ominously loud before they’d played a note. And so it was to be in fairly grand style. Thank Buddha for decent Earplugs. The set featured a new 45 minute piece, and the show was delivered fairly relentlessly without pause. Frontman Yamantaka Eye conducted the band, as well as contributed his chanting vocals and percussion. I have no idea what the powerful, crazy vocals were about but am happy to leave that interpretation to the imagination. Anyway, five crashing drummers are always going to be good value. I can only imagine what it's like with 88 drummers which they played in 2008. Anyway, an 'anything but boring' act to see perform live. Many of the large contingent of band members were later to be seen watching others shows and trying their luck on the Penny Falls.

Buoyed by the success of last December's Mixtape Swap, the CD-exchange-between-strangers event returned for a second helping. A CD compilation of the (often estranged) musical tastes of one person being swapped with those of another, based on letters of the compilers name on this occasion. Basically a pretentious CD swap mark II from those I saw listed in the programme then.

Joanna Newsom's second set was a stunning rendition of her plucky harp and trademark quirky vocals. I gathered her show the previous day had been plagued a little by jetlag, though tonight's performance was fairly faultless. Sadie, Emily, and Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie some notable highlights as she charmed the audience in her typical style.

Low are a favourite of mine and another ATP regular over the years. Good sound on Centre, necessary to hear the soothing vocal harmonies, contributed to making this a great show. Alan Sparhawk surprised everyone by sending out an invitation to join him on a run the next morning. A suggestion for a game of Spaceball instead rang out from the crowd, but fell on deaf ears.

Mt. Eerie were the only artist of the weekend I saw not previously familiar to me in some form. A quality low-key Indie set by solo guitarist Phil Elverum. He's a strong songwriter judging by the powerful chords and haunting, melancholic lyrics. Definitely someone I would see again.

Yann Tiersen played his full band set on Centre, lots of instrument changes followed. Tunes from the Amelie soundtrack provided the more familiar parts of the set for many of us. Another highlight for the weekend, Earth played their drone/doom metal set. Hypnotic, heavy ('man') guitar and cello sounds resulted in a musically stoned audience.

Scratch Acid put on the highest energy set of the weekend with their noise rock tunes; this quickly transferred itself to an equally enthusiastic audience. Their first UK show since 1987, vocalist Steve Anderson is not one to stand still onstage; he was quickly hoisted high on the shoulders of the audience after charging into the crowd, singing away on his travels. No night time lullabies in the early hours tonight either then.

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