Ahead of Green Man this weekend, we take a closer look at some essential acts to catch at this year’s festival.

One of the largest independent festivals in the UK, and an undisputed jewel in the British festival calendar, Green Man Festival returns this weekend with a (once again) masterfully curated line-up of veterans, newcomers and favorites alike. And,of course there’s plenty here at Hard of Hearing we can’t wait to stuck into.

Starting on the Thursday with it-boy headliners Kneecap, our eyes will be turned to the Walled Garden and the gothic-folk of Triswych Y Fenywod, whose championing of Welsh identity will put us all in good stead for the weekend. With influential indie-darlings Wet Leg and Wunderhorse capping off the mainstage on Friday, we’ll be up early(ish) to watch Green Man Rising winners/trip hop voyagers wing! open proceedings. Stateside heroes MIKE, Panda Bear (of Animal Collective) will be blessing the mountains too, with Silver Gore and Adult DVD gracing the rising stage.

On the Saturday, the rising stage is littered with long-time Hard of Hearing favourites. Newcastle’s lots of hands and Sarah Meth, hotly tipped newcomers RIP Magic and Truthpaste, plus the rising band of the moment Westside Cowboy all feature. If MJ Lenderman’s much-revered country-rock gets too much, then YHWH Nailgun playing at the same time will not only provide a counterpoint but will rearrange your insides in the process. Daisy Rickman and caroline will lift your soul to new spiritual heights, while headliners Underworld (followed by a tasty looking after-hours set from Chalk)will bludgeon you back down to hell.

There’s majestic acts aplenty to lift up an ailing Sunday soul. Aga Ujma’s unique brand of Indonesian-inspired folk music is one, and the angelic Folk Bitch Trio are another. Beth Gibbons (of Portishead fame), is a third. For the final wind, Morn’s frenetic punk-rock (born in the same Monmouthshire county where the festival takes place), will leave nothing out on the stage. If NYC indie legends TV on the Radio don’t take your fancy, then afrobeat legends Cymande will provide an uplifting send-off before the fireworks cap off another weekend. 

And if all that wasn’t enough, we’ve picked out five sets that you won’t want to miss (or if you do, you’ll want to miss other people talking to you about it)

Black Fondu 

Closing off the Rising Stage on Saturday night, and more than an apt warm up to rave king headliners Underworld on the Main stage next door, watching a Black Fondu live set feels like a full-body workout. Aside from his intense, freakish and glitchy experimental rap showdowns – as mesmerising as they are vaguely frightening – the breathtaking athleticism of his performance is a sight to behold all of its own: all writhing limbs and baying vocals bathing in a thick, dry-ice fog.

Natalie Wildgoose 

When Sunday comes around, and you’re beat down, fucked, and party’d out for real, the spectral, piano-lilting incantations of Yorkshire’s Natalie Wildgoose early in the afternoon can be your strengthening hand. Her gorgeous March EP ‘Come Into The Garden’ – itself a plea to go outside and return to the beauties of nature (to ‘touch grass’ in other words) – can only be the perfect accompaniment to the festival’s majestic surroundings in the midst of the Brecon Beacons.

Good Sad Happy Bad

The elliptical art-rock project featuring members of Micachu and The Shapes – one of whom, Mica Levi, has also gone on to become an acclaimed film composer in their own right – Good Sad Happy Bad are firmly flourishing in their lane. Delivering Broadcast levels of uncanny dreaming, but roughened up on the edges with hard-nosed lo-fi rock  – all vocalised with strong and endearing southern english accents too – their live shows are hypnotic and gently colossal.

HiTech

Serving up what might be the most child-like fun possible while still remaining undeniably 18+, Detroit ghetto-tech trio HiTech’s after hours set could be one of those for the proverbial ages. Laying it on thick with hyper-active rhythms, smutty lyrics and a devout, proselytisation of all things Hennessy, all the while hoying themselves across the stage like under 5s in the ball pit – HiTech, have been taking the festival circuit by storm this summer, and rightly so. The sensible thing will be to get down and see it for yourself.

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Coming free with a fervent protest against all things SEO-friendly, Philadelphia self-dubbed ‘Hyperfolk’ trio are glitching vintage folk rock serenity into the chaotic digital era. With vocal harmonies to die and ascend to spiritual awakening for, their performance will most likely root you to the floor and stand your ears on end (if they’re UK tour last year was anything to go by). On as the sun’s setting too, @ will send your Friday night into full swing, so much so that it’s gonna feel like a movie fr.