The Music Box  
  Exploring the World of Music  

 

Music Box Home

 

Recent Reviews

Annual Best of Lists and Top Selling Albums


Alphabetical Directory of Artists

New Releases

Music News

Tour Dates and Concert Listings

 

Add to My Yahoo!

XML Feed

 

Media Streams and mp3 Downloads

 

Contests and Giveaways


Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller

Various Artists
Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller

(Trojan/Sanctuary)

First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2007, Volume 14, #3

Written by Douglas Heselgrave

gif

It’s been a great year for reggae reissues, and the new Trojan release Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller is no exception. Originally owned by Island Records, Trojan has specialized in reggae music since it began pressing vinyl in 1967. Most of Jamaica’s top recording artists — including Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Toots and the Maytals, and Lee "Scratch" Perry — have recorded for the label, and the catalogue the company has accrued over the last 40 years has made its collected body of work as important to reggae as Sun Records is to rock ’n‘ roll and as both Stax and Motown are to R&B. The historical and artistic value of Trojan’s catalogue cannot be overestimated. Yet, since the mid-’80s, Trojan has languished, having been bought and sold countless times before it finally was purchased by the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001. Subsequently, a steady stream of reissues and new releases have come out of the revitalized label, but these largely have escaped under the radar of all but the most ardent of reggae fans. Realizing the constrictions of being in such a niche market, the new directors of Trojan recently initiated some very creative ways of exposing new fans to past works by releasing carefully conceived compilations that have been programmed by recognizable music business figures.

The first discs of this series were Chapter Oneub and Chapter Twoub Massive. Respectively released in 2005 and 2006, each was selected and remixed by ambient dub pioneer and bassist Bill Laswell. In arranging these discs, Laswell wove together a string of vintage Trojan hits in order to present them as a seamless musical experience, much like they would have been showcased in a Jamaican dance hall environment. Employing some subtle dub effects and touches, Laswell captured the feel of the original Trojan hits while managing simultaneously to sound thoroughly contemporary.

On Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood took a completely different approach than Laswell did to the Trojan vault. Resisting any urges to remix or recast the material, Greenwood preferred to act as a tour guide through reggae’s backwaters, and he has managed to assemble one of the best classic reggae compilations ever released. Greenwood’s taste is impeccable, and he has succeeded brilliantly in pulling off the difficult feat of compiling a song selection that is, at once, challenging and familiar without being alienating. Avoiding any obvious hits from artists such as Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals, Greenwood covered a lot of stylistic ground with classic tracks from Jamaican stalwarts such as Gregory Isaacs and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Greenwood’s love of the music is evident in the enthusiastic and informative liner notes that he composed to outline his reason for choosing each of the songs on Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller. While fans may argue the relative worth of some of his selections, the fact remains that most of these tracks have been under-represented in the digital age, having not seen publication on CD until now. Indeed, the fact that classic dub hits from the ’70s — such as the truly weird Flash Gordon Meets Luke Skywalker by Jammy and The Roots Radics — have been made available, at long last, in a format other than 45- RPM vinyl is reason in itself to buy this disc. It’s hard to remember, given the dearth of great contemporary reggae releases, that the genre once was one of the most experimental and creative styles in modern, popular music. Every outing of this kind goes a long way toward making these tunes available to the general record buying public, thus giving new fans an opportunity to hear these crucial cuts for the first time.

For music lovers wanting to expand their reggae collections beyond Bob Marley or the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, it’s hard to think of a better place to start than Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller. With new selections of classic Trojan hits due later this year from Fatboy Slim and Super Furry Animals, as part of the label’s 40th anniversary celebration, there appears to be no end in sight to the continued excavation of reggae treasures from the golden age of Jamaican music. starstarstarstar ½

Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!

For Canadian orders, please Click Here!

For UK orders, please Click Here!

gif

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

gif

Copyright © 2007 The Music Box

 

BOOKS  MOVIES  FAMILY MUSIC  HOLIDAY MUSIC  COMPILATIONS
__________________

Library of Congress/National Serials Data Program: ISSN 1941-224X
About Us  Contact Us  Privacy  User Agreement  Charities
NO PORTION OF THIS SITE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION