Various Artists – GospelCity Shout 2010

Various Artists
GospelCity Shout 2010
SoulCare Music
www.gospelcity.com

Earlier this month, SoulCare Music, in collaboration with the popular website Gospelcity.com, introduced GospelCity Shout 2010. It is a ten-track collection of previously released gospel performances by some of today’s liveliest old-school choirs, fiery gospel singers, and pumped-up groups and quartets. Linda Klosterman compiled from a portfolio of record labels and publishers.

Songs blend seamlessly into one another as if programmed for radio. Among the songs designed to get blood pumping and hearts racing are “I Love the Lord,” a Doc Watts with a sanctified beat, courtesy of Phillip Carter & Sounds of Victory; “Jesus Is All We Need,” a hard-shouter from the delightfully extroverted and evangelistic Lemmie Battles; and “Do It!,” Dottie People’s high-octane hit. The Soul Seekers render the quartet standard “Somewhere Listening” as a nine-plus minute bass-thumping, cymbal-clashing uptempo performance with an exciting vamp that goes on well after the singers have left the building.

A nice surprise is the sassy-confident vocal that Tiffany Welch contributes to Joshua Troop’s funky “L.O.V.E. Love (I’ll Do).” The inspired addition of a track from Ugandan artist Omega Bugembe Okello, an alumna of the African Children’s Choir, will help introduce her to a wider audience.

The collection would have been even better had the opening track, a snippet from a Paula White lesson, been contained to about a minute. Well into the second minute, I had pretty much gotten Paula’s point and was chomping at the bit for the music.

GospelCity Shout 2010 is all concentrated energy, a superb collection of work by artists who don’t necessarily show up with regularity on the annual WOW Gospel series.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Somewhere Listening,” “I Love the Lord,” “L.O.V.E. Love (I’ll Do).”