As January comes to an end, it’s time to put the reminiscing to bed. But not before revisiting the end-of-year lists one last time, and relishing in how much praise our line-up (or more specifically: the artists on it) has received. 

BRDCST has always been about music that doesn’t behave: records that derail algorithms, scenes that refuse neat genre boxes, and artists who take the long way round. Looking at the “Best of 2025” round-ups from Pitchfork, The Wire, Crack Magazine, The Quietus, Dazed and more, that instinct feels pretty vindicated. 

Here are a few of the most talked-about releases landing at BRDCST 2026.

The big one: Los Thuthanaka closing BRDCST in style 

Resident Advisor summed it up perfectly: “It’s a fucking trip.” And it really is. 

Los Thuthanaka is the project of American-Bolivian Chuquimamani-Condori (aka Elysia Crampton) and their brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton: electronic experimentation intrinsically tied to Andean folklore, Bolivian indigenous heritage, and queer celebration. Their self-titled debut didn’t even play the usual game, being released raw and unmastered, and not on mainstream streaming platforms. 

And still: it hit like an uppercut. “Slack-jawed euphoria” (The Quietus). 

End-of-year lists (Los Thuthanaka – Los Thuthanaka) 

• Pitchfork: #1
• The Wire: #3
• Crack Magazine: #9
• The Quietus: #59 

BRDCST will be closing the weekend with Los Thuthanaka. Exactly as it should. 

AD 93: Label of the Year 

We’ve been crossing paths with the London label AD 93 for a while at BRDCST, and 2026 feels like the right moment to put a brighter light on that orbit. Pitchfork recently named AD 93 “Label of the Year 2025”, praising the label’s adventurousness, disregard for convention, and raw emotion. 

At BRDCST 2026, that spirit shows up loud and clear through james K, feeo, and Olan Monk. 

james K: a breakout album presented with a live band 

If you’ve been hearing people whisper about Friend all year, it’s not hype: it’s the real thing. Pitchfork says it’s more of a handily crafted magic trick by james K than a miracle, although it’s very tempting to call it that. (Jamie Krasner) has long been a quiet constant of the aesthetic underground, as a vocalist, producer or collaborator, but 2025 felt like a new level of visibility. 

And in 2026, she tours with a live band for the first time. The Belgian premiere is booked for BRDCST. 

End-of-year lists (james K – Friend) 

• Crack Magazine: #11 
• Dazed: #17 
• Pitchfork: #47 
• The Quietus: #56 

DJ Haram: fractured club sensibilities 

DJ Haram calls herself a “multidisciplinary propagandist,” and it fits: her work, includes what The Quietus describes as “politically charged noise-rap" and melts so many artistic formats. Her debut Beside Myself (Hyperdub) is a fierce synthesis of club music, hip-hop, experimental sound design, and Middle Eastern rhythms. The result is chaotic in the best way. 

End-of-year lists (DJ Haram – Beside Myself) 

• The Wire: #5 
• Crack Magazine: #40 

 
feeo: quiet intensity praised by Pitchfork and The Wire 

feeo’s debut Goodness is intimate but expansive. The Wire praised how the record “embedded gorgeous vocal melodies and reflective monologues within lo-fi beats… and improvisational flourishes.” It’s one of those albums that spreads by word of mouth… until the critics catch up. 

End-of-year list (feeo – Goodness) 

• The Wire: #15 

 
Ichiko Aoba: universally acclaimed curator of BRDCST 2026

Ichiko Aoba returns to BRDCST not just as an artist, but as a curator: shaping an evening in her own crystalline universe of folk, ambient and experimental music. Her latest album Luminescent Creatures landed with serious critical weight. It’s the kind of record people (The Guardian) describe as medicine. 

End-of-year lists (Ichiko Aoba – Luminescent Creatures) 

• Pitchfork: #33 

Lucy Railton: spellbinding minimalism (curated by Stephen O’Malley) 

Lucy Railton is one of the most fascinating cellists working in contemporary and avant-garde music. Pitchfork describes her solo debut Blue Veil as rigorous and austere. And as The Wire points out: the music feels sculpted, rather than written. 

End-of-year lists (Lucy Railton – Blue Veil) 

• The Wire: #32 

Rainy Miller: Northern Gothic, but make it intimate 

Rainy Miller’s Joseph, What Have You Done? is a full emotional environment: drill, ambient, industrial texture, voice notes, confession, fragility, all stitched into something intensely personal. Crack Magazine compared it to a smorgasbord. Keeley Forsyth brings him to BRDCST as part of her curation, which says a lot in itself. 

End-of-year lists (Rainy Miller – Joseph, What Have You Done?) 

• Crack Magazine: #28 
• The Quietus: #37 

Les gouts et les couleurs, but the pattern is clear: the core of BRDCST 2026 is built from records that made critics and fans stop scrolling in 2025. 

See you in April.