Soulville - Soul Stuff for KIds of All Ages CD Review

Little Monster Records has outdone themselves this time. Soulville - Soul Stuff for Kids of All Ages is a beautifully recorded and packaged collection of some of the greatest soul and r&b tunes of all time. These 11 songs were originally written and recorded by some heavyweights of American music history: Jackson 5? Check. Marvin Gaye? Check. Sly Stone? Check. Martha and the Vandella's? Yep, them too.

The songs on Soulville are covered by modern r&b artists along with a stellar and energetic kid's chorus. The renditions are for the most part faithful to the originals or at least faithful to the faithful covers previously recorded. For example, if you close your eyes and listen to the "Mustang Sally" version here you might actually think you're watching The Commitments...only with a gaggle of children having been snuck into the Dublin bar to sing backup.

The result is one of the most instantly enjoyable, danceable and sing-along-able records to be released this year. Add the ultra-hip illustrations and witty, educational liner notes in the form of a Soul Music 101 board book to the outstanding music and what you have is a contender for album of the year.

Listen to samples of a few tracks here on the Little Monster Media Page.

Pick up a copy of this tremendous record from Amazon.com