Jonny Greenwood
Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller

"Ok. So here's my definitive top five. Number one: "Let's Get It On," by Marvin Gaye. Number two: "This Is The House That Jack Built," Aretha Franklin. Number three: "Back In The USA," by Chuck Berry. Number four: "White Man In The Hammersmith Palais," by The Clash. And last, "So Tired Of Being Alone" by Al Green."

Forgive me for the quote from Nick Hornby's book, "High Fidelity," but nothing could better summarize the idea behind this album. Yes, because "Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller" was born with the same spirit. And probably the Radiohead guitarist found himself in the same situation as the protagonist of Hornby's novel. That of thinking, adding, removing, shifting, defining, with the sole purpose of creating a balanced compilation.

But let's proceed in order: on the occasion of the fortieth birthday of the Trojan, a renowned English label for its production in reggae/dub/rock steady music, it opens its archives to a series of more or less established musicians, with the aim of creating a series of anthologies that best summarize the essence of its vast catalog. One of these musicians is indeed Jonny Greenwood, who, as a great lover of the genre (as evidenced by the passionate liner notes written by the multi-instrumentalist), takes the opportunity with both hands: he starts sifting through the tapes and, with patience and meticulous work, crafts this collection for us.

The result, we say immediately, is of high level. Greenwood is no amateur, and it's clear from the first listen: in 17 songs he managed to capture the best of Kingston's sound, in a perfect blend of well-known classics and more or less known rarities. The first group definitely includes the well-known "I'm Still In Love" by Marcia Aitken, here in a long 7-minute mix, "Never Be Ungrateful" by Gregory Isaacs, with its dense "roots" atmosphere, and "Let Me Down Easy" (Derrick Harriott), just to name a few titles. Add to these "Bionic Rats" by Lee Perry (an artist who appears multiple times in the tracklist, and I’d say it's not a coincidence) and "This Life Makes Me Wonder" by Delroy Wilson, cunningly placed at the end of the album, once again dominated by vivid roots atmospheres, and you have an almost complete picture.

Almost, though: the other side of the album is represented by a handful of dub traces with a decidedly more abstract flavor. Here too, the selection is spot on and demonstrates Greenwood's passion even for the more experimental sounds of reggae/dub: there's a gem like "Flash Gordon Meets Luke Skywalker" (Scientist & Jammy & The Roots Radics) with its nebulous and obsessive stride; there's "A Ruffer Version" (Johnny Clarke & The Aggrovators) with its curious dissonant and noisy soul. In "Black Panta", hypnotic and expanded atmospheres emerge, unsurprisingly, again by Lee Perry.

One could go on, as all the tracks on the album are of high quality, but I must emphasize one thing: the fact that, even when mixing different cards, even when juxtaposing sounds and styles that differ from each other, Greenwood's compilation work has been superb, giving us a homogeneous and coherent snapshot of the Jamaican music universe.

Concentrating excellently 40 years of history into 70 minutes of music, "Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller" is not just a cold collection. It's a work that exudes passion and love for the genre from every groove and that gives us a glimpse of the background of one of the most interesting artists of recent years. A must-have.