Labor Day is aljost here and every island has released music for their respective festivals.  Music will still release as some artistes have realized it doesn’t have to be Carnival to release music.  This is the opportune time for ragga-soca and groovy-soca to come out.  Nevertheless, festival music for 2006 has essentially run its course for a couple more months.  By November, Trinidad and St. Kitts will begin pushing songs for 2007.  Then it starts all over again!

Listening to the music throughout the year, I must say there were some nice surprises as well as some disappointments.  Some of the usual heavy-hitters in music came strong.  Shurwayne Winchester finally won the International Soca Monarch in Trinidad with, “Can’t Wait.”  Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts came strong to win the road with, “Band of The Year.”  It was nice seeing some newer faces getting some rotation such as Russell Cadogan with, “Big Bottom Gyal,” newcomers Surge with, “In Your Timing,” and Miss Alysha with, “Party.”  Nadia Batson has been busy all year with her song, “One Island,” and writing for artistes abroad.  I look forward to hearing more music from these artistes as some have been in the industry for a while, but are now getting recognition.

From the Virgin Islands, Jam Band may be without Daddy Friday, but they’re proving they will go on.  Their popular song, “What You Mean By That,” is a favorite even amongst those who were previously unfamiliar with Jam Band’s music.  I was a bit disappointed with the music from St. Vincent this year.  This isn’t to say I didn’t like it.  One of the top songs was by Skarpyon, who won the road march with, “Leave Me Alone,” featuring Jamesy P.  It’s a nice song, though a bit mellow for a road song. I enjoyed a couple of tracks by Bomani, and music by DJ 20 and Fireman Hooper of the Roses Crew faired well, but as a whole, St. Vincent’s music wasn’t as strong as previous years.

Barbados had a good year for new artistes, as they seemed to dominate the airwaves.  Newcomer, Pong, enjoyed strong rotation with his comical songs, “Young Ting,” and, “

Antigua’s music surprised me a bit.  What used to be Burning Flames last year is now the Red Hot Flames.  Lead vocalist, arranger and producer, Clarence ‘Oungku’ Edwards, changed the band’s name.  Former vocalist Onyan has now taken over the Burning Flames name with Krokuss, another former band member.  The bands names may have changed, but both bands faired well with music.  Red Hot Flames went on to win Antigua’s Road March.  Bands, El-A-Kru and Taxik, both brought nice music as well. 

St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Kitts aren’t usually at the top of my list as distribution is an issue.  I’m familiar with the music of Small Axe and Nu-Vybes from St. Kitts, though I’d like to hear more of what the island has to offer. Grenada appears to have more individual artistes, which is unique as jost islands biggest names come from bands.  Mr. Killa (formerly Baby Killa), as well as Boogie B are some of Grenada’s top performers, though I understand Soca Banton, relatively unknown to those outside of Grenada, placed first in the Road March.  Grenada and St. Lucia still have a ways to go when it comes to production as a whole.  Using the Internet as a tool, many of these artistes at least have the capability of getting their music to DJ’s abroad.  I’m sure the quality will increase, as technology only gets better.

Band launchings for the upcoming Broward and Miami carnivals are on the rise as the dates come closer.  On the 26th is the Skan D Lus launch at the Ft. Laud Women’s Clubhouse (