With more than 20 new names, an extra shipment of jazz, folk, explosive punk and a night curated by Tirzah, the line-up for BRDCST 2024 is complete.
Â
Discover the line-up on Friday 5 April, Saturday 6 April, and Sunday 7 April, or entirely immerse yourself in the newly announced artists first.
Curated by Tirzah
Tirzah recently surprised us with her third album trip9loveâŠ??? And enthusiastically accepted our invitation to curate an evening at BRDCST. It is also her first curatorship ever. âSome of my closest connections in music have been felt listening to these artists. I'm honoured and so chuffed they are going to be sharing the stage, and playing for us allâ, she says. Anja Ngozi, Coby Sey, Loraine James, Meril Wubslin, and Mica Levi have signed on to be here.
Mica Levi is the musical right-hand and partner in crime on all of Tirzahâs albums and together with producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Coby Sey they form the collective CURL. Sey is also to be heard on Tirzahâs albums Devotion and Colourgrade. His debut Conduit bathes in glorious post-grime.
London DJ and artist Anja Ngozi already reworked a track for Highgrade, the remake of Tirzahâs
second album Colourgrade, that Loraine James also contributed to. According to NME, âLorraine James continues to prove why she is so vital in the electronic music scene. Never afraid to push boundaries or show vulnerability, James creates a compelling world of soundâ.Â
Nothing is a mere coincidence because, lastly, there is also Meril Wubslin. The upcoming album by this compelling, intriguing, Swiss-Brussels trio is produced by Tirzah's significant other Kwake Bass.
One Leg One Eye (Lankum) and Clarissa Connelly complete the folk programme
Lankumâs superb False Lankum was just recently described by Mojo as âmodern folk musicâs own OK Computerâ. So The Guardian, Uncut, and Loud & Quiet rightly torpedoed False Lankum to Album of the Year. It may have been the most striking trend of the past year: folk is totally back. Doing so in an exciting capacity.
Lankum-frontman Ian Lynch now also manifests himself under the name One Leg One Eye. His debut And Take the Black Worm With Me received five stars from The Guardian. CTM aptly wrote: âThe
weight of Irish history and myth, infused with the raw aesthetics of black metal and noiseâ. Lynch and Clarissa Connelly round out BRDCSTâs folk programme, in which Shovel Dance Collective, BrĂŹghde
Chaimbeul, Gordan, and Lenhart Tapes are also to be found. Scottish-Danish Connelly has already pocketed a Nordic Music Prize and was signed by Warp, just like BRDCST acts Autechre, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Slauson Malone 1. Influenced by Celtic mythology, Connelly navigates between the musical realms of both Kate Bush and Vashti Bunyan.
The Necks complete the jazz section
Well worth a separate entry: The Necks from Australia. They complete the jazz section together with Alabaster DePlume, ambient jazz guru Cole Pulice, and Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas. Strange: The Necks have been around for more than 35 years and now âsuddenlyâ seem to be having their breakthrough. Their latest album Travel topped the BRDCST year-end chart for 2023, stringing up the superlatives. De Volkskrant gave five stars. The Wire wrote: âStunningâ. And all that in the borderlands of jazz, minimalism, improvisation, and classical. Hats off!
A triple uppercut
BRDCST goes hard thrice with Benefits, Chalk, and PRUILLIP. Anyone viewing the Benefits website immediately knows what theyâre all about: âWe are benefits | we are a band | we shoutâ. Their fanbase includes such notorious fans as Steve Albini, Sleaford Mods, and Modeselektor. Geoff Barrow (Portishead) was so impressed that he signed them up to his Invada label right away. Their debut NAILS really does hit the nail on the head and will resonate until BRDCST 2025. Wanna bet?
Closer to home, we found the explosive duo PRUILLIP: a project by Annelies Van DinterâŻ(Echo Beatty) and Louis EvrardâŻ(Grid Ravage). At the invitation of Dennis Tyfus, they played their very first show at De Nor in Middelheim. Their debut - via Cortizona â received immediate accolades: "Traces of punk, ambient, rock noir and stoner grunge prove how versatile PRUILLIP is", according to Knack Focus, which also gave the debut four stars.
Chalk is an Irish, electronic post-punk trio from Belfast. "Musically, they fish in the same pond as Shame, The Murder Capital, and Fontaines D.C., but they sound more electronic and cinematic", says Dansende Beren.
BRDCST takes you to church (of Notre-Dame aux Riches Claires)
At the nearby Church of Notre Dame aux Riches Claires, we land a line-up that will lift BRDCST connoisseurs to the highest musical ranges. With Niecy Blues, we head to South Carolina. Her debut Exit Simulation meanders between ambient and gospel, R&B and melancholy soul. Boomkat: âWe've been knocked sideways by this one. Essential listening if you're into Grouper, Erykah Badu or Dawuna.â
Equally gripping is Lebanese oud player and musicologist Youmna Saba. She explores the interrelationship of the Arabic language and electronica. De Subjectivisten wrote of her album Wishah: "Moving, goosebump-inducing, profound splendour. An overwhelming masterpiece."
Amor Muere is an experimental collective from Mexico with, as pivotal figure, cellist and singer Mabe Fratti who originally hails from Guatemala. Their debut a time to love, a time to die was described by Pitchfork as âavant-garde compositions grafted from gritty electronic textures, discordant strings, and soaring vocal melodies.âÂ
Just like Tirzah, Swedish-Iranian pianist Shida Shahabi recently received a rather unique invitation from PJ Harvey to join her at her Gunnersbury Park show in 2024. Shahabiâs work will surely charm fans of Max Richter and A Winged Victory for the Sullen.
Flora Yin Wong is a London-based producer and DJ with Chinese and Malaysian roots. She often works with religious images as a point of departure. Her latest album Cold Reading hovers between dreamy pop, contemporary classical, and musique concreÌte.
Italian sound artist Freddie Murphy presents The Night Shows No Dawn: a sonic exploration into the practice of funeral laments that express and channel grief.
BRDCST x HIP-HOP 50
In the season in which AB celebrates 50 years of the genre, BRDCST couldnât lag behind. Enter LIONSTORM, in their own words, the very first queer rap act from The Netherlands. This duo from Amsterdam - Skerrie Sterrie and Vuige Muis â recently stormed the Dutch underground with their rebellious, activist hip-hop and punk about squirting and inspecting erections. "Lionstorm is raw, dirty, sexy, and confrontational", headlined Trouw. They already impressed last year at BRDCST, and they now return with brand new work.Â
Beans is a founding member of the recently reunited Antipop Consortium, one of the most visionary hip-hop bands. His flow remains inimitable and unique. His latest album Zwaard was surprisingly canned by Finnish glitch-master Vladislav Delay.
And because all good things come in threes: enter H31R (read: heir/air), is a female New York rap duo consisting of JWords and maassai. Their latest album HeadSpace was released via Big Dada/Ninja Tune and reflects their âmutual desire to bridge the gap between hip-hop and electronic music.â
BRDCST CELEBRATES CANâS âFUTURE DAYSâ (1973)Â
During BRDCST 2022 and 2023, SERGEANT, OĂ LESâŻOX, L. JACOBS, and MILAN W. made an indelible
impression by completely reworking Canâs legendary albums Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi. Also during this edition, this crew â again with Brussels-based Japanese saxophonist SHOKO IGARASHI â will put the equally legendary Can album Future Days through the wringer. âFuture Days remains one of the bandâs most significant works, forming an unofficial âDamoâ trilogy alongsideâŻâTago MagoââŻandâŻâEge Bamyasiâ, demonstrating the band at the height of their careerâ, writes Far Out.
BRDCST by night: Accidental Meetings (DJ)
Accidental Meetings originated in Brighton during the lockdown with cassette-only mix releases and then exploded into a DJ collective, label (with a graphic in-house designer, as befits any good label), and organiser of much-enjoyed club nights. Check out their annual mixtapes AMF&FFO and enjoy Elijah Minnelli, wzrdyAV, or the equally illustrious dub/folk of Abu Ama. Kiosk Radio: âAccidental Meetings is pushing the boundaries of experimental, dub, jazz and techno.â BRDCST is a fan! Welcome to the dancefloor.
Kurt Overbergh
Curator BRDCST