The album Jonny Greenwood describes as “music from the future”
Jonny Greenwood has been one of the most important names in alternative arts and culture for decades now. After being gifted a recorder as a small child, Greenwood developed his understanding of music by playing in baroque and orchestral groups before landing his role as Radiohead’s lead guitarist and keyboard player.
Beginning with their iconic debut single ‘Creep’, Radiohead brought sonic sadness into the mainstream and pushed the boundaries of rock. Almost four decades after their formation, they remain one of the most important alternative bands of all time. Somehow, alongside contributing strums and keys to the sound of Radiohead, Greenwood also found time to delve into movie scoring.
After composing the music for the 2003 documentary Bodysong and a brief cinematic outing in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Greenwood began his long-standing collaborative relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson when he scored There Will Be Blood in 2007. Since then, the two have worked together on cult favourites like The Master, Inherent Vice, and Phantom Thread, the latter of which earned Greenwood an Academy Award nomination.
Between his contributions to the musical masters of melancholy Radiohead and his extensive work in film scoring, there are few people more qualified to make cultural assessments and recommendations than Greenwood. The Radiohead guitarist once divulged his cultural highlights in an interview with The Guardian, picking out the 2014 Sun Ra and His Arkestra compilation In the Orbit of Ra as his album of choice.
Sun Ra was a cosmic character and a jazz aficionado who made a lasting impression on the genre. With over 1,000 songs to his name, Greenwood rightly asserts that his recordings are a “vast labyrinth” but suggests that his compilation of choice “does a great job of steering you through them”.
The record really does guide you through the orbit of Sun Ra. It was curated by Marshall Allen, saxophonist and leader of the Arkestra, and is a “perfect introduction into the astral world of Sun Ra”, according to Greenwood. Though it collates songs from over 25 years, beginning in the 1960s, the Radiohead guitarists suggested that it still sounds like “music from the future”.
“The percussion textures are glorious, and the focus is on texture and rhythm rather than indulgent solos,” he explained. “It’s a good album for someone who doesn’t like jazz, especially the clean, clinical sound in which much modern jazz is recorded. This is far dirtier, and so much more of an ambiguous listen.”
For those uninitiated into the orbit of Sun Ra, or even into the world of jazz, or for those who are well-seasoned fans of the Arkestra, In the Orbit of Ra remains essential listening. It even has the capability to convert jazz haters, according to Greenwood.
