New Multitudes
by Jay Farrar/Will Johnson/Anders Parker/Yim Yames
  • Record Label: Rounder
  • Release Date: Feb 28, 2012
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Feb 28, 2012
    91
    The effect is both panoramic and cloistered, an aptly manic-depressive tribute not only to the band's source material and Guthrie's lasting relevance, but to the lonesome crowded West that so many have worked to document since.
  2. Austin Chronicle
    Apr 19, 2012
    89
    New Multitudes is a resilient tribute to Woody Guthrie based on the folk pioneer's unpublished lyrics.
  3. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Feb 28, 2012
    88
    When all is said and done, New Multitudes is a staggering work and a crowning achievement.
  5. PopMatters
    Mar 13, 2012
    80
    Farrar, Parker, Johnson, and Yames have done the Guthrie family proud and provided a perfect centennial gift to music fans worldwide.
  6. Exclaim
    Mar 8, 2012
    80
    New Multitudes shows, just as Mermaid Avenue did in 1998, that Woody Guthrie's work remains a living entity with a limitless capacity to inspire.
  7. Boston Globe
    Feb 29, 2012
    80
    It marks the centennial of Guthrie's birth and is a fitting tribute.
  8. Mojo
    Feb 28, 2012
    80
    To fresh melodies of Guthrie would surely have smiled upon, the four adorn every lyric with fine guitar weaves of rollicking dance, rugged grind or Paris, Texas haunt. [Mar 2012, p.97]
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  9. Uncut
    Feb 28, 2012
    80
    Guthrie's work endures because if its essential big-hearted hospitality--and Farrar, Johnson, Parker and Yames have mad themselves right at home. [Mar 2012, p.93]
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  10. Los Angeles Times
    Feb 29, 2012
    75
    These concoctions have inherent charm both from Guthrie's typically pithy, sometimes deceptively trenchant writer's eye and from the foursome's fittingly earnest musical settings.
  11. Blurt Magazine
    Mar 13, 2012
    70
    The level of familiarity turns out to be one of the records strong suits, and something that distinguishes it from the Bragg/Wilco records.
  12. American Songwriter
    Feb 28, 2012
    70
    In the end, these four alt-folkies honor their idol's legacy, providing a gateway for a younger generation of fans to further experience and explore the importance of Woody Guthrie.
  13. AllMusic
    Feb 28, 2012
    70
    New Multitudes, on the other hand, aims for a darker and more introspective tone, and when Farrar takes center stage, he unwittingly reveals his Achilles' Heel--no matter who he works with, he insists on dominating the musical conversation, and when his co-writer has been dead since 1967, there's not much hope for any real balance.
  14. Rolling Stone
    Feb 28, 2012
    60
    Four singer-songwriters tag-team in a folk-rock vein, and the high points are when voices unite.

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Best Album of 2012

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