In its third edition, BRDCST is again pleased to spotlight innovative makers, networks and challenging collectives. So we have deliberately focused upon a number of labels, such as Blackest Ever Black (Carla dal Forno, Pessimist,…), Sleaford Mods-associated underground postpunk/noise label Harbinger Sound, contrary Belgian quality label Consouling Sounds, tak:til (Glitterbeat’s brand new instrumental sub-label with Joshua Abrams and Širom), but also Boussiphone Records (just call it the Maghrebi equivalent of the Alan Lomax archive).
It’s no coincidence that, a half century after May 1968, our society (and BRDCST) is bursting with protest. Sleaford Mods crusades against the Brexit, Young Fathers actively speak out against the anti-Islam demonstrations of Pegida, and the mission of the NON Worldwide collective (see: Chino Amobi, Nkisi and Bonaventure) reads: ‘a rejection of mass culture and existing political conditions’. The final uppercut will be from Irreversible Entanglements feat. Moor Mother, which sounds like the modern musical equivalent of Black Lives Matter.
BRDCST this year is buzzing with global sounds: contemporary innovative worldly sounds. Just think: the breathtaking Maghrebi Bass Adventures of Ammar 808 & The Maghreb Unit and the Turkish psychedelia (sic!) of BaBa ZuLa and Altin Gün, as well as Egyptian singer Nadah El Shazly and the exciting gqom sounds of South African duo Faka.
Long live the intriguing footwork of Jana Rush too, the originally Zimbabwean queen of the Mbira (thumb piano) Stella Chiweshe. We serve up edgy electronica with Sylvia Kastel and Mhysa (see: Scraaatch), while the black metal of Denmark’s Myrkur couldn’t be left out either.
Finally, we at BRDCST are more than proud to present a number of European premières, such as the live soundtrack of one of the most popular Netflix series of the moment (‘Stranger Things’ by S U R V I V E-members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein) and also a unique collaboration with the wonderful vocal brilliance of Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares and Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance). In turn, BARST plays ‘Sister Ray’ will be performed for the first time, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of The Velvet Underground classic ‘White Light/White Heat’.
Add to that the sure-to-be-spectacular shows of musical innovators like Scotland’s Young Fathers and James Holden & The Animals Spirits and it goes without saying that the festival offers an exciting cross-section of what is relevant in 2018.
We wish you an exciting journey of discovery, one full of musical revelations!
Kurt Overbergh, Artistic Director AB
