Breathless! Wi Breathless. . .
Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 05/20/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For the first time in a few years or so I was one of the billions of unfortunates around the world who missed out on Trinidad Carnival this year. While I had a very good excuse to do so (my wife was having a baby) (I was still close to going anyway!) I definitely paid quite good attention to one of the most powerful Carnival seasons in recent memory. And while you can probably STILL hear each and every soca head in the world complaining and lamenting that the season was far too short (and it was), Carnival 2008 definitely left us with some crazy memories and even crazier vibes highlighted by one of the most unlikely of showdowns (and controversies). Now, for those of us that missed out on the festivities comes the fun part. Each and every year after Carnival is over, the artists in charge of producing the world's most addictive vibes in soca start spreading out and touring all over the world. Wherever you are on the planet, you're likely to be close to a major city which at some point (if it hasn't already) hosted one of the biggest (or even an upcoming) names in soca. Also, if you're not the concert going type, there are the albums! MOST of the biggest and brightest stars in soca music typically release their albums after carnival with their biggest hits of the season and newer material, while these albums tend to go, for the most part, unnoticed outside of the Caribbean and various other soca hotbeds throughout the world, if you are so inclined to track them down, trust, there's a decent chance that one of your favourite soca artists has a brand new album out right now and you might not even know it. Also, and most importantly in my opinion, it is AFTER Carnival when soca music REALLY starts to exceed in the mainstream because Carnival produces stars. Whether reinforcing the fact that Bunji Garlin (aka Mr. Fay-Ann, more on that in a minute) is aiming at Capleton to see who is the Caribbean's real fireman; Showing that Machel Montano is truly on the verge of becoming a genuine musical superstar; or introducing the world to future stars such as Problem Child, Ricky T, Don Trent, Zoelah and other countless names, many of whom will ultimately be charged with taking Soca music to the next level. Carnival is without a doubt the BIG stage for soca music, but really after things cool down, the trucks are packed up and people start going home, you really get the time which makes the world question just how such a powerful vibes continues to largely play off radar.
What isn't off radar, or even close to it, is the Soca Gold compilation. You're very likely to find people who are fans of modern music who cannot name a SINGLE current soca artist but who know EXACTLY what Soca Gold is. If you do not know, it is the biggest soca album of the year, released by VP Records, the largest Caribbean music label in the world, annually. The same which can be said of the period after Carnival can be said for the SG album itself, it can definitely make stars from the music as it puts copies of songs into the hands of people who would otherwise never have them. If you are going to buy one soca album a year, it will most likely be Soca Gold. For my opinion, the album is always pretty good in quality, although as I do get more and more acquainted with the music (and I'm pretty good now) I do tend to miss tunes on the album's roster more and more. This year is no exception on either front as SG2008 follows in a very solid line of albums from 2005 all of which, at least to me, have been very good. SG2k8 includes some of the BIGGEST (two in particular) tunes from the season and songs which really have defined what Carnival 2008 was and it also has a few glaring omissions. However, something I consider from the Soca Gold album is, much like it's sister album Reggae Gold, the album being so big has the ability to further turn people on to the vibes more and more. Thus, although you may have no idea the song existed, you just may enjoy Bunji Garlin's bit so much on Hunter's Bring It remix, that you might do a bit of research and discover that he himself won the season's biggest prize with his very own tune, Fiery (again, more on that in a minute). For me this year, looking from the outside to the inside, it was very easy to keep track of the vibes and I can full on say that I've been listening to a few of these tunes since last November! Perhaps due to the serious fun of the moment in being there (or perhaps due to my own COMPLETE lack of attention), but each and every time I've actually attended Carnival and then received the SG album, it is usually full of tunes which I just don't recognize at all! This year, I'm completely on point and thankfully, as coming from a PURELY MUSICAL standpoint, arguably 2008 has been the greatest season which I have had the fortune of experiencing on some level definitely! The songs from the top notch artists were really good as the typical cast of characters; Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano, Destra, Shurwayne Winchester and Fay-Ann Lyons definitely represented themselves well all scored with some of the biggest hits of the season. They were joined by the next tier of artists also doing themselves more than proud such as KMC, Dawg E Slaughter, Peter Ram, Biggie Irie and the likes and even the young and up and coming names this year such as NADIA BATSON, Ms Alysha, Patrice Roberts and the EXPLOSIVE Blaxx further continued their rise to eventual soca superstardom with big hits as well. I would also do well and respectful to mention the likes of Denise Belfon, Sean Caruth, Crazy and even SUPERBLUE as very well known artists who returned this year with strong vibes as well. Simply put, if you REALLY enjoy soca music then 2008 was your playground and you (like me) are probably still playing on it.
Soca Gold 2008 follows a SG2k7 album which was loaded and packed with hits and just impressed on so many levels. I'm not calling 2008's edition as strong as 2007, that would be VERY hard as that album was definitely one of my absolute favourites the series has ever produced, but it is still more than just solid and borderline excellent as expected. Were you to ask me for my opinion of the absolute biggest tunes of the season I could definitely narrow it down to as far as a top five and two of those tunes are present on SG2k7. They also happen to open the album in succession (and of course one of them is my absolute favourite tune from the album)! In a music so `segmented' and streaking as soca tends to be (due to the very fact that it actually has a season, can you imagine something like dancehall season, or hip-hop season?), its VERY difficult to call something the biggest hit of someone's career as, especially with the top artists, their entire career tends to be going from hit to hit to hit. HOWEVER, I have absolutely NO problem with declaring the MASSIVE Get On as the strongest piece Fay-Ann Lyons (now Alvarez) has EVER produced topping the mad Display. The tune single-handedly dethroned two time in a row winning and defending Machel Montano (who was representing with Blazin' D Trail) more than quadrupling Mr. HD himself and almost tripling the next closest competitor in points. The tune also single-handedly ended the male dominance on soca's greatest prize, Soca Monarch. . . Of course you wouldn't know that, however, because Fay-Ann was robbed and the crown was given to her husband, Bunji Garlin, who more than admitted defeat to his FIERY wife. Get On is the type of tune which separates soca from every other musical genre in the world. I have heard the song hundreds of times now and have yet to tire of it. From the ultra-cool intro all the way through it excites and just personifies a vibe which cannot be ignored. Get On is massive in every way and if you haven't seen the monarch `winning' performance then definitely do yourself a favour and track it down. Next up is the tune which won the runner up trophy to Get On in Road March and was my absolute favourite tune of the season and, thus, on Soca Gold 2008 as well, the SICKLY addictive Breathless by Blaxx representing Roy Cape All-Stars. Blaxx checked in on SG2k7 as well with Dutty which was a solid enough tune as I had never heard of Blaxx. But Breathless is seriously something else. The intro plays in on a children's like instrument and my ears literally standup every time I hear it (and it's my daughter's favourite song and it will probably be yours too!). Again, look for a song which is SPECIFICALLY soca, no part dancehall, no part hip-hop not diluted in the slightest bit. Breathless is MASSIVE! Closing the intro and calming things down (my heart says thank you) a bit is Gyal Farm by Kerwin Du Bois and Shal Marshall. The tune is interesting to me for no other reason than I recognize its strength, but to be perfectly honest, it was one of my least favourite hits of the season.
I was probably most interesting in the track selection this year as I mentioned that I had been paying so good of attention and as I looked down on the list prior to even receiving the album the song here which I was MOST happy to see was definitely Wukking Up by Patrice Roberts. Roberts is a very young veteran in the game and Machel Montano's most noteworthy protégé from his HD camp and she has SERIOUSLY shined throughout her career and definitely as of late. I though VP dropped the ball in 2007 as they missed out on arguably her biggest hit to date (not including her tunes with Machel, most notably the Road March winning Band of the Year and the only song which may have topped Breathless for me were it on this album this year, Rollin'). Playing on the same riddim which Machel scored with Wining Season this year Wukking Up is VERY impressive and they could have literally picked either of her tunes from the year (especially the Wukking Up remix with dancehall diva Macka Diamond) and been on point, she continues to impress. Secondly I was very impressed to see veteran Sean Caruth's MASSIVE Down Dey, truly one of the biggest tunes of the season as well. The tune plays with no tricks at all, its your basic straight forward power soca style and I absolutely love it. I still don't think it received its due credit but perhaps now you'll have your own opinion, it was tunes like Down Dey making up the body of the season and part of the reason why it was so impressive overall definitely. I was also quite impressed to see what for me is the most SELF affirming tune on the album as SG favourite, Bajan Mr. Dale checks in with Soca Junkie. He even outdoes himself from SG2k7 with this tune Soca Junkie (and its hilarious video) is the type of thing which has the potential of attracting mainstream attention. I don't even think Dale would have had that in mind with the tune, but even for what it is, Soca Junkie is the type of tune socaheads eat up, and I'm one of them. My single favourite tune from Carnival 2007 was definitely Expose from Antiguan based group El-A-Kru and they follow up very nicely with Tizzy leading the way on the excellent Kick It Off. The tune follows in the way of Alison Hinds Roll It with the big women empowerment type of vibes and it might even top Hinds' mega-hit. I love the tune and seemingly, at least for me, anything Tizzy and gang touches turns to go (also check their hit Bounce and recent album release, Fully Loaded). The Barbados crew definitely represents best of all the islands (TnT not included of course, but even if they did the Bajans might still take the crown here overall). Besides the aforementioned Mr. Dale and the obligatory Edwin Yearwood (who is a VP artist as is Bunji Garlin) check young Don Trent's excellent Me & You! The song is the somewhat mellow lover's track which does for this year what Blazer's Be Mine Tonight did for last year. Just a sweet sweet track (over what I think is the same riddim which backed Peter Ram`s 2007 hit Woman By My Side). Barbados also checks in an unexpected way with Trini Farmer Nappy's highly addictive and popular Chippin'! The tune is actually produced by Bajan duo De Red Boyz which has produced many of the slower groovy hits you'll hear out of the area, including Woman By My Side and Biggie Irie's MAMMOTH Nah Goin Home and even Year wood's (typically strong) It Feels Like Home and Trent's Me & You from this album as well. Nappy, the veteran former member of Xtatik and current member of Montano's camp definitely does the base proud as well, Chippin' was definitely one of the best vibes of the season. Lastly, I'll mention two not so regular faces: Check yet another Bajan in Lil Rick on Girls Gone Wild which to be honest is pretty AVERAGE! However, I've been soooooooo biased to the song due to the video and you track it down and you'll Overstand completely (if you happen to be a man that is). And you just have to mention St. Lucy checking in with Ricky T's high powered insanity, Pressure Boom. I'm a bit tired of the tune now, but its my own fault, I played it to the grave and back and I'M SURE you'll enjoy it.
I will mention quickly that there are a TON of big soca tunes this year which didn't make the album and I was disappointed a bit. But actually, if you think about it, nearly every song you'll say was missing here; anything by Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin's Fiery, Destra's Last Lap, Winchester's AWESOME Carnival Please Stay, KMC and Beenie Man's Party Animal, Nadia Batson's My Posse, Crazy's Phone Card and I'm sure others are not here but those artist ALL reached with albums which for exclusivity reasons may have made them harder for VP to get. Definitely check them out (especially Batson's Caribbean Girl and Montano's Flame On).
Overall, definitely soca heads have at this one. There is also a DVD here which is becoming the norm for the series which features the typical fun live performances and videos from all over as well for you, which you might actually find more interesting than the CD. It would have been difficult for SG2k8 to top 2007's edition unless it were to take in EVERYTHING (and I'm longing for the day where SG is a double CD release with two full produced CD's and no mix). But this also is for the new fans as well, if you at all feel that powerful vibe starting from Trinidad and spreading throughout the Caribbean called Soca scratching at your ears and making you move then definitely check out what is its annual champion year end and year out, Soca Gold. And if it happens to hit you hard enough, then I'll definitely see you there next year!"
Soca Gold 2008
Adrienne Sutton | Fort Washington, MD USA | 06/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These compilations get better and better every year. I highly recommend for anyone who likes island music."
Soca at it's very best!
CAROL DAVIS | 08/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am a Canadian living and working in Sherman TX,I miss my Soca and this year I will be missing my Caribana Jump Up in Toronto Aug 2,but this CD makes me feeling like I am there.I just found out I am a "Soca Junkie" too! Buy this CD and feel the Scoa Fever.Hey what has happened to Byron Lee's annual Soca CD?"
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1