Welcome to the future of jump-and-wave riddims, with our 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 the 2 years, Ghislain Poirier decided it was time to bring 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 Carnival celebrations the world over in 2009, please welcome the excellent Soca Sound System EP.

‘Wha-La-La-Leng’ features long-time collaborator Face-T dropping the best sing-a-long hook for 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 within a cascade of rhythm. Panamanian-born and 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’, recorded in the early in the morning at a NYC hotel room following Ghislain’s party rocking set at The New Yorker Festival. Slaughter’s hype energy may have incredibly avoided penetrating the hotel walls during recording, but there will be no escaping the command to get loose whilst on the dancefloor.

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. The second installment, Run The Riddim slated for June / July 09 will focus on future dancehall production and feature reggae legend Burro Banton amongst others. The third release Low Ceiling slated for Oct 09 will focus on thunderous dancefloor beats with massive, thick bass showcasing Ghislain's straight up instrumental side. All releases will lead into a 2-disc album entitled Running High to cap off the year which will be 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

"Run, jump, scream, South Rakkas Crew says whine pan di Soca Sound System. Ghislain you’re killin' me!" - South Rakkas