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With so much going on at the Richmond Folk Festival – and with spending so much time talking to people to find out what they think of the things going on – we’ve often run out of space to discuss what is the main ingredient of this whole shindig: the music.

So, with one more day left to enjoy the multi-cultural sounds spread among the festival’s seven stages, here are my picks for some acts who shouldn’t be missed.

E.U.: The D.C.-based go-go band is not only an airtight musical outfit, but if you haven’t experienced go-go music live, they’ll show you in seconds why it’s known as an original form of party music.

Go-go relies on its backbeat, a crisp snare drum and rattling high-hat gluing the music with deliberate quarter and eighth notes on the bass drum. That’s the first sound that will make your body head uncontrollably to the dance floor (if you catch them in the Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion, where there IS a dance floor).

Saturday afternoon, the seven-piece E.U. (which stands for Experience Unlimited) held down a non-stop rhythm while singer Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliot issued a call-and-response during their versions of “Family Affair” and the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.” At one point, he even improvised a Happy Birthday shout-out to “all the Libras in the crowd.”

Even though the band is mostly playing cover songs, when given the E.U. treatment, these well-known jams are stretched into fat, funky soundscapes that will guarantee even the most rhythm-less in the crowd find a groove.

Performing: 1:30 p.m. Dominion Stage; 4:45 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion

Líadan: This sextet of lovely ladies from Galway, Limerick and Dublin are more about melodic reed and string instruments – and accordion! – than the typical foot-stomping reels that are integral
to many Irish groups.

That isn’t to say they’re Enya.

Far from it, actually.

At Saturday night’s performance, the women balanced spirited instrumentals filled with fiddle, harp and tin whistle with Irish and Scottish ballads that illuminated their gorgeous harmonizing.

Oh yeah, and if their playing isn’t impressive enough, all of the group holds masters degrees in music.

Performing: 4 p.m. Wachovia/Wachovia Securities Stage

Nukariik: While I didn’t find this charming sister act as intriguing as AltaKAI, the Russian throat singers who visited the National Folk Festival in 2006 (maybe we’ve had throat singing overload?), it’s worth checking them out for the sheer oddity of what they do.

However, one of their performances on Saturday occurred on the exposed Dominion Stage, right under a set of train tracks.

Not a great plan, considering the sisters’ form of throat singing is rather quiet, like rapid breathing or whispering. And, of course, a CSX train with its blaring whistle rumbled past in the middle of their show.

But, it was still interesting to watch them – clad in traditional Inuit garb – as they stood inches apart, facing each other and holding each other’s elbows as they gently swayed or edged in a circle while expelling their sounds.

Performing: 3 p.m. Comcast Stage

Plena Libre: This Puerto Rican outfit took a few minutes to get warmed up for their Saturday evening performance – interestingly, almost every member took a brief solo spin on his form of percussion as an introduction to their set, rather than midway through or toward the end, which is more common for solo spotlights.

But when the entire group – all clad in white – seeped in behind a quartet of percussionists, founder Gary Nuñez on upright bass and a sublime horn section injected a jazzy vibe into the rhythmic sea.

Performing: 2 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion; 5:45 p.m. Ukrop’s/First Market Bank Stage

Howard Tate: The recently resurrected soul legend performed his shows this weekend with the horn section from Richmond’s Chez Roué Orchette, who sounded as if they’ve played with the man for years.

While not necessarily party music, Tate’s straight-up, old school rhythm and blues was belted with an authenticity few can still bring.

On Friday night, I ran into local fave Gary Gerloff (volunteering at the fest), who mentioned that the only living comparison to Tate is Al Green.

I couldn’t have said it any better.

Hope you caught Tate Friday or Saturday, because he’s not performing on Sunday. If you missed him, visit http://www.howardtate.net to learn a little more about this forgotten talent.

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