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Various Artists
Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller
(Trojan/Sanctuary)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2007, Volume 14, #3
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
It has been a truly wonderful year for reggae-oriented
outings. Jonny Greenwood Is the
Controller, the latest outing from Trojan, is no exception. When it was
formed in 1967, Trojan originally was a part of the Island Records family. Over
the years, many of Jamaica’s best-selling artists — Toots and the Maytals, Bob
Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Dennis Brown, among them — have worked for the
label. Consequently, the catalogue that Trojan has assembled over the past 40
years is superlative. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that its
arsenal is as crucial to reggae as Stax and Motown are to R&B and as Sun Records
is to rock ’n‘ roll. In other words, both the historical and artistic value of
Trojan’s collected body of work cannot be overestimated.
Nevertheless, Trojan has been languishing since the mid-1980s. It had been
bought and sold on several occasions before it finally found a home with the
Sanctuary Records Group in 2001. Since then, the label has been revitalized via
new recordings as well as a steady stream of reissued classics. Unfortunately,
these efforts largely have been ignored by all but reggae’s most ardent fans.
Trying to break free from a niche market is never easy. The new directors of
Trojan, however, seem to have discovered what, in the end, may prove to be a
rather brilliant plan. In effect, they have undertaken a few creative
initiatives that are designed to introduce new fans to their catalogue via a
series of carefully conceived compilations, each of which has been assembled by
a high-profile player in the music business. Issued respectively in 2005 and
2006, Chapter Oneub and Chapter Twoub Massive were the first of
these endeavors. Both outings featured material that had been remixed by ambient
dub pioneer and legendary bassist Bill Laswell, who strung vintage classics
together to form a seamless musical experience that captured the essence of the
Jamaican dance hall experience. Laswell masterfully evoked the aura of the
original Trojan singles, though he simultaneously made them sound contemporary
via an array of subtle dub effects and sonic flourishes.
On Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller, the latest installment of the
series, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood provides a different
kind of glimpse at the
Trojan vault. Instead of remixed and re-imagined material, Greenwood preferred
to act as a curator for reggae’s cultural museum. The result is one of the best
compilations of classic reggae tunes ever to be released.
Greenwood’s
taste is impeccable, and with Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller, 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.  ½
Of Further Interest...
Burning Spear - Living Dub, Volume 6
Joseph Israel - Gone Are the Days
Ticklah - Ticklah Vs. Axelrod
Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller is available from
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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