The future of jump-and-wave riddims comes with the guarantee that 'nuff towels will be hoisted in the air and twisted madly in appreciation. After dabbling in the sounds of Soca in his legendary DJ sets for two years, Ghislain Poirier brings his own inimitable production flavor to this revered realm of Caribbean music that combines lilting melodies from calypso with insistent percussion and South Asian chutney sounds. The results are equal parts grimey, sweat-inducing, and fun as hell.
Perfectly timed for 2009 Carnival celebrations the world over; please welcome the excellent Soca Sound System EP. On "Wha-La-La-Leng," long-time collaborator Face-T drops the best sing-along hook of this last stretch of the '00s over popping rhythms and a drop-kick low end. "Karnival" is a full-on dancefloor assault with squelchy melody and stabbing kicks rocking a cascade of rhythm. Panamanian-born No Ground Under collaborator MC Zulu takes control of "Immigrant Visa," a monster of a tune where the mere intonation of this man's voice gets bodies bumping. Famous Soca legend Mr. Slaughter demonstrates why he is the master on the utterly infectious "Get Crazy."
Soca Sound System is the first in a year-long arc of releases from Ghislain Poirier on Ninja Tune. Each will feature original productions focusing on the various street music aesthetics our man rocks so damn well, and culminate in Running High, a two-disc album chock-full of killer new material, versions and remixes. Get ready for this!
"Ghislain's new Soca EP is amazing. Uptempto dancefloor euphoria with his massive roughneck sound. It's also really great to see Mr. Slaughter on here--these tunes will reach Trini and BK carnival for sure.... Who's afraid of 160bpm+? Large!" --DJ/Rupture
