Various Artists-'Til We Out Number 'Em Songs of Woody Guthrie (2000)

Since becoming a Woody Guthrie fan, some time ago, I have come to realize that he must have been one cool ass guy;  a white guy in the 1940's traveling and squatting all over the place, making friends with tons of different races of people and singing songs of their plight and  more or less just"sticking it to the man" in, so many ways.   Stating all that it's probably pretty easy to see why I would say "ok" and try a tribute compilation to him; I mean, how bad could it really be?  Well, it sucked balls.


'Til We Out Number 'Em Songs of Woody Guthrie is a 17 track compilation, (unless its the MP3 version then there are 19 tracks), tribute album with a lot of the modern hippie folksy types that produce really bad covers.  Now granted I'm partial to liking this due to it being cover/tribute album for Woody Guthrie, so I should have really liked it but some of these artists sounded really freakin' awful.  Maybe it's because in my head I'm hearing the original song, with its old recording quality and his vocals portraying an idea of equality in a time of inequality, and these cover made me skip the tracks on a lot of the songs.  A couple of these artists even made me want to listen just to hear its horribleness, while a few weren't too horrible.  (Along with all of this, I'm not a fan of any of these artists in the first place: Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, definitely don't like Bruce Springsteen & Indigo Girls)

I had much higher hopes for this release, but I guess I should have been thinking more correctly and realized that if I didn't like most of these musicians in the first place, then I wouldn't like their cover/tribute songs.  Even though it has something to do with Woody Guthtie, it just doesn't feel like Woody Guthrie. I suppose if you are interested you should check it out, but I will not listen to it again.

Official score- 1/5

Jean Pierre Massiera- Psychoses Discoid 1976-1981 (2008)

So I found this due to the name and the cover, I thought both seemed pretty interesting.  (As a side note, I get a lot of bad music basing choices off of names/cover art; I'll go further and say that is the same with foreign films.  My wife tells me that I am not allowed to pick a foreign film, when we are both supposed to watch it, because I always choose the seemingly worst one possible.)  With a french name and a series of date from the late 70's to '81, how bad could it be?

With my idea of the possibility of coolness based on superficial qualities, I was partial amused by this album.  First and foremost, this is a collection of Disco songs, that Jean Pierre Massiera either played in, produced or edited.  Each song is by a different artist and all, I mean all, are disco tracks!  I will follow that last sentence up with the fact that 1/3 of the songs are pretty cool, and most of the songs have really bad ass bass lines; that's where it ends.  If you ask any friends that have known me for any length of time, then they'll tell you this is not the kind of album that I would like; so.... I'll be honest and say that it isn't all that bad.  The songs can be catchy, some of the songs have lyrics in different languages and seriously, the bass on most of the tracks are awesome.  Disco is disco, there isn't really too much to explain about it; all these songs are very similar and the album as a whole is pretty much like listening to a compilation of like-minded bands.

You'll like this if you like Disco, or if you are into catchy dance type music; like P. Murph.  I probably won't listen to this again after I did for this review, but it might stay in the music collection for archival purposes.  (and the fact that I really don't like getting rid of any kind of music, even if I hate it.)

Official score- 2.75/5

Various Artists- Girls in the Garage Vol. 1 (2004)

I have always liked compilation albums, the different bands and styles that can be heard on one release, and this is no different.  Girls in the Garage is a 10 volume set that helps us discover rare 60's garage rock bands that is either all female or at least female lead vocals. 

27 different tracks, on Volume 1, helps to show the early female pioneers in garage rock, early protopunk type bands. When I first got this release, I hadn't heard of any of these bands, and after listening to a few of the other volumes, I really enjoy most of the tracks.  Everything you will hear on this volume is sheer, pure early psych-garage rock-protopunk-rockabilly-surf greatness!  Granted at times the vocals can get a little high pitched, but it's nowhere near what X-Ray Spex produced.  If you are interested in expanding your horizon to incorporate early rock n' roll, and to see where a lot of what we hear now got it's start, find a way to get your hands on this.  (After looking online at prices for this release, might be a good album to get on your favorite peer-to-peer program.)
With lots of great songs, tons of early rockin' guitar work and your standard rock-n-roll beat, not a bad release at all.


Official score-3/5