If you have a soft spot in your heart for psychedelic folk, you would do well to attend the fifth year of The Green Man Festival this coming weekend, 17 - 19 August, in Brecon Beacons, Wales. Featuring performances from Joanna Newsom, Vashti Bunyan, Battles and countless others, psychedelia and folk prove only to be starting points for this diverse selection of talent. For those who can't attend, however, all hope is not lost: several of the acts performing at this year's weekender are playing gigs in the capital either before or after the festival.
Tuesday, 14 August presents a choice between two acts that no doubt have an overlapping fan base. Ben Chasny brings his head-expanding blend of noise and acoustic guitar strum to Cargo as Six Organs of Admittance, while Drag City labelmates P.G. Six bring their hypnotic drones and brooding tales to The Luminaire. While P.G. Six did play Cargo on 9 August, this gig will be their only London performance with the full band.
After a day's rest you can return to Kilburn on Thursday, 16 August to enjoy the soft and sublime twang of Alela Diane at The Luminaire. Certainly more intense in this intimate setting as opposed to the larger festival stage, Diane's melancholy strains gently fill the listener with their eternal wisdoms. Frequently compared to Joanna Newsom, fans of the abstract elven songstress shouldn't miss this night.
Lastly, when all that remains of this year's Green Man is a bit of tidying up to do, San Francisco's Vetiver play The Spitz on Monday, 20 August. Of all these acts, Vetiver possess the most traditional indie rock sound, not unlike the more country-tinged road movie tunes of Yo La Tengo. Like the New Jersey rockers, however, these genre similarities simply provide a friendly familiarity rather than any staleness. The cello-backed lazy vocals of front man Andy Cabic should soothe any senses that you may have overloaded at the weekend.
Six Organs of Admittance at Cargo on 14 August 2007, £10. P.G. Six at The Luminaire on 14 August 2007, £8. Alela Diane at The Luminaire on 16 August 2007, £8. Vetiver at The Spitz on 20 August 2007, £12.50.
Image of Six Organs of Admittance taken from Tim Broddin's Flickr photostream.
