Various Artists - Lif Up Yuh Leg An Trample (2004)

Following up their London Is the Place for Me compilation from 2002, the Damon Albarn-related label Honest Jons unleashes another set of hot carnival music, this time including present-day artists who are no strangers to powerful modern beats and studio tricks. Lif Up Yuh Leg an Trample is no less fun than London Is the Place for Me's set of bright, summery, party music, but it's got more of a street-level bite and doesn't always hide its social commentary under playful lyrics. Andre Tanker's story of starvation, "Food Fight," uses the old carnival music tricks of dark humor and irony, but Dawg E Slaughter's "Trample" is an incredible slice of hip-hop soca with a standoffish growl that can't be bothered with subtlety. Combining soca's hectic pace, dancehall's busy song structure, and his own biting lyrics, Slaughter is the real find of the collection and worth learning more about, something for which the collection's booklet doesn't help a lick. It's a beautiful 44 pages filled with photographs, sexier than something the more academic Rounder label might do, and maybe that's the point. If it takes coffee-table packaging and the singer from Blur's endorsement, so be it. Music this driven and urgent shouldn't be missed and if all you can think about is that silly calypso record your parents brought home from vacation, forget about it. Soca and carnival music have more to say than ever before, and the artists here take the Mighty Sparrow's and Lord Kitchener's "with the people" attitude to new levels of thrilling. You'll have to go elsewhere for the specifics, but Lif Up Yuh Leg an Trample captures the diverse world and empowering spirit of modern-day soca perfectly. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide