Raiza Biza
Day & Night EP

Since 2019, a dark cloud has loomed over our region, as many have feared the return of the most weaponised duo in Avon.A trail of scorched chambers in their wake, their witnesses still fail to rub the imprints from their retina, drown the wailing from their heads and scrape a metallic taste from their mouths.But finally, our iron tongued padre, Franco Franco, and his crypto-bard, Kinlaw, throw down their second slab, 'Mega Dopo Mega'.Charging straight over the top into 'Com'èèè??', 'CGI World' shells down on us with a white-hot salvo. Round after round, our ringmaster spits cybernated venom as his consort thrashes us with relentless, barbed sonics.Pausing just briefly on 'Tetsuo 2019' to heave up a lung full of filings - they press on into data driven mania and cyber-chotic battle cries.By 'Distretto Nono', their probe lifts off - before exiting in a cacophony of AI laughter, beamed straight from the shell.They're back, and this time it's personal...'

Pittsburgh, PA-native Buscrates returns to Bastard Jazz with a synth-heavy 7” single, “Internal Dialogue.” The two-tracker sees the artist take an easy-going approach to his signature funk-filled sound, with a slowed-down tempo and melodic key riffs. “Internal Dialogue” is a mellow boogie joint that combines plenty of Moog, rich ARP strings, and syncopated clavinet chord stabs; “Early Morning” is reminiscent of a late-90s neo-soul beat, with rich Rhodes chords, while a squelching bass line evokes 70s electro-funk. Both tracks are undeniably Buscrates and are sure to have your head bobbing.Buscrates - aka Orlando Marshall - is a DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Pittsburgh. He draws influences largely from 90s hip hop and early-mid 80s electronic funk, which is evident in the boomy, swinging drums and bubbly Minimoog bass lines heard throughout some of his productions. He works locally and sometimes internationally either behind a pair of turntables spinning 45s or working his trusty Roland SP-404SX sampler and various other little portable gadgets at one of his beat sets. Some of his production credits include Phonte & Eric Roberson, Wiz Khalifa, and the late great Mac Miller.“Internal Dialogue” is out on Bastard Jazz Recordings September 30th.

We live in divisive times. Multiculturalism rises hand-in-hand with racial tensions, and politicians seem powerless to even bring people within earshot of their convoluted message. It’s time for a different perspective.On his second studio album, More Arriving, Sarathy Korwar blasts out his own vibrant, pluralistic missive for the world to hear. This is not necessarily a record of unity; it’s an honest reflection of Korwar’s experience of being an Indian in a divided Britain. Recorded over two and a half years in India and the UK, More Arriving draws on the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, incorporating spoken word and Korwar’s own Indian classical and jazz instrumentation. This is a record born of confrontation; one for our confrontational times.With this album, Korwar expands his politicised narrative to envelop the entire diaspora. “This is a modern brown record. The kind of record that a contemporary Indian living in the UK for the past 10 years would make,”Korwar says. “This is what Indian music sounds like to me right now.” It all begins with the title: “More Arriving comes from the scaremongering around Brexit,” Korwar says. “It’s a tongue-in-cheek play on the fact that there are more people coming and you’ll have to deal with it!” Through this defiance, Korwar takes clear pride in the knotty mix of his identity – harking back to the new India of the Mumbai hip-hop kids, as well as identifying with London’s cultural diversity. “I want the idea of brown pride to come through,” he says. “My voice is one amongst a thousand, but this record is a snapshot of something much greater than myself. It’s the chance to send a message.

Fantastic...

Franco-Cameroonian rapper of 25 years old, MIKANO has been lucky enough to visit the four corners of the world during the first part of his life. He grew up in cities as diverse as Abu Dhabi or Cairo where he discovers life, but also music.Since his childhood he is passionate about rap music, Snoop Dog, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent or Nas. Later, the click will be with Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Kid Cudi's "Man Of The Moon". His new favorites naturally guided him towards rap and English language.At the age of 17, his family settled down in Paris, where he began to compose and write, inspired by the music that touched him at each stage of his life and his travels.Now inspired by artists such as Agnès Obel, Frank Ocean and Alabama Shakes, he’s started recording titles and the release of a first EP "No Devices Found", first test quickly followed by "Blind Man Dreams" a second haunting and dreamlike EP (entirely produced by his accomplice SVTVS) which allows him to appear on the radars of the French and international music industry. It has positioned him as an artist who crossover the genres.MIKANO presents "Melting Ballons" a mixtape where imagination and emotions are put in the foreground. The artist has chosen to put sensations at the heart of his creation, from his mind directly to the microphone and invites the audience to walk in a museum of thoughts, raw emotions, that he can modulate on demand."Melting Balloons" opens with the instant ear-worm « Silhouette " where the rapper continues to have fun, by mixing genres, in putting his voice on a production halfway between Afro-Beat and Trap. Follow tracks as intimate as "Silent Screams » a song totally sung and « Symphony » a true invitation of letting things go. It gradually intensifies and gives place to "Fuego", a demonstration of strength: where the rapper reveals all his power and his technicality.Mikano's music is made for those who love Frank Ocean, Blood Orange or Kid Cudi. So many influences that the rapper had digested and diluted with subtlety. He’s been able to make something that sounds like it has never been heard before, something completely new. Mikano's sound is intimate, deep, juggling lightness and strength. He’s taking the listener from one extreme to an other, from a song tinged with sweetness and fantasy to a title inflated with energy and raw power, served by an impeccable flow.