Yes, soca. And with those two little syllables, an oversight bordering on criminal negligence has been rectified. Please find below 25 minutes of road mix madness to compensate for a year and half with barely a Jus Bus refix to show for all my carnival talk. You might not think at first that Montreal would be the place to look for soca redemption, but let me remind you of a dude named Poirier who would beg to differ.
GP76 Poirier Soca Palms Blend
Machel Montano, “Tell Me”
Ziggy Rankin, “Ball fi More”
Skinny Fabulous f. Bunji Garlin & Faye-Ann Lyons, “Send Dem Come”
Shurwayne Winchester, “Heavy Load” (Poirier Edit)
Poirier f. MC Zulu, “Go Ballistic” (Tony-O Remix)
Skinny Fabulous, “Head Bad”
Lil Rick. “Spread Out” (Brass Fest Riddim)
Skinny Fabulous, “Ready Wid De Rags” (Brass Fest Riddim)
Edalam, “Helicopta” (Video Mix 2009)
Poirier f. Mr. Slaughter, “Get Crazy”
Download: Ghetto Palms Poirier Soca Blend
As many micro-genres as I’ve dreamed up in this space I’m not trying to take shots but I never understood the "lazer-bass" tag that attached itself to Ghislain. Whatever you want call his sound, I think you have to recognize that he has been doing the bloodclot thing lately with the Run the Riddim EP, kill-dem remixes of Erup, Busy and Major Lazer and the debut of his recurring Karnival event in Montreal dedicated to soca, kuduro, zouk, tropical house and other bacchanalia. He also just happens to be in New York this week for CMJ, all of which conspired to put him in the guest selector booth for this week's column.
I have mentioned before I'm not into high-production values soca, but that skepticism just throws into bass-relief what I love about this blend. This is carnival music stripped down to it’s substrate, the bare essentials comprising street percussion, whistles, hypnotic brass, big synths, one billion bpms and wuk up! “Send Dem Come,” with its clarion-call horns that could be Termination dub or Buena Vista Social Club is a perfect example of how universal this pan-Caribbean bashment can be. Trinidad stand up! Montreal, um…Debout!
Poirier’s tour dates are below, with RSVP info for the CMJ events here in NY. Check him out:
Thursday Oct 22th:
Cassette NYC CMJ Showdown @ Santos, 100 Lafayette Street, NY
11PM-4AM RSVP@CASSETTENYC.COM
Friday Oct 23rd:
Palms Out x Broken Teeth : CMJ Takeover! @ Beauty Bar, 921 Broadway, Brooklyn
10/22: Santos, New York
10/23: Beauty Bar, Brooklyn
10/29: La Terrassa - Mexico City
10/30: Cervantino Festival + Modeselektor, Mexico
10/31: Monterrey (MX) - Espacio San Pedro
11/05: San Luis Potosi (MX) - Hotel Panorama
11/06: Mexico City - La Faena
11/26: Neuchatel (SW)
11/27: London (UK), Plan B
11/28: Utrecht (NE), Guess Who? Fest
12/04: Bruxelles (BE), Recyclart
12/05: Bristol (UK), The Tube
