Imaginary Cuba

Amazon.com
Your taste for Bill Laswell's collection and reconstruction of various Cuban sounds on Imaginary Cuba depends entirely on your taste for the patented sonic stamp that the producer, bassist, and "mix translator" affixes to nearly all his projects. In other words, Laswell's Imaginary Cuba is just that: a made-up journey through various Afro-Cuban percussion tracks, street singing, and strummed tres melodies, with more than a healthy helping of Laswell's familiar ambient-wash production and sometimes-intrusive, added hip-hop/dub backbeats. Gathering performances by Cuban musicians such as Frank Emilio, Septeto Nacional, Los Ibellis, and others, the disc isn't so much a various-artists compilation as it is a DJ mix, complete with added production and beats that move each track seamlessly into the next. There are moments when Laswell's production takes him to some interesting territory, as on the four "Habana Transmission" tracks, where he layers breakbeats, dub bass lines, and hip-hop snare drums beneath washes of Afro-Cuban percussion and tres guitar parts. However, listeners looking for more traditional Cuban music may be somewhat disappointed, as this is less a faithful recording of Afro-Cuban music than it is one producer's vision of the marriage between Afro-Cuban music and his own already-developed sound. --Ezra Gale

From Jazziz
Deconstructing Havana Seems like these days the famously genre-smashing producer/bassist Bill Laswell is as inclined to manipulate source material as to build from scratch, with typically varying results. His relaxed, hip-hop-flecked Panthalassa remixes of Miles Davis were more successful as polemic (e.g. the tapes from which Teo Macero constructed Bitches Brew should be fair game for other producers) than as further illumination of Davis' muse. But this project, utilizing Cuban "studio, home, and street" recordings featuring singer Raul Planas, percussionist Tata Guines, pianist Frank Emilio and others, holds up well through repeated listening for more than its interesting concept.

It also benefits from a narrower than usual focus - with an eye for gleeful juxtaposition that rivals John Zorn, Laswell's output occasionally suffers from a lack of depth caused by his propensity for flashy editing and stylistic dillanteism.

No matter their original quality, the source materials Laswell uses for Imaginary Cuba now have a haunting, distant, almost Alan Lomax-like quality. Stripped-down polyrhythms fade in and out behind disembodied chanting and echoing, melodic snippets of folk songs. Occasionally Laswell's trademark subharmonic bass rumbles in the distance like slow-motion explosions or organic dub-production tricks tweak an already ghostly sound into further alien ambience. The bulk of Imaginary Cuba continues layering these basic, effective units in gentle ebbs and flows before finishing with a two-song coda - a jarring misstep of stacked clattering percussion tracks that too much resembles a run-of-the-mill drum 'n' bass workout, and a final exercise in pure, thick ambient sound.

Tracks:

Habana Transmission 1#/Avisale A La Vecina Dub
Para Clave Y Guaguanco
Loungin With F.E.
Chacon And Daniel
Dejala En La Puntica
Habana Transmission 2#/Cuban Evolution
Los Ibellis
Habana Transmission 3#/Shango Sound Scan
Hombre Lobo, No! Hombre Nuevo, Si
Guerillero Heroico (El Che Vive!)
Shango
Pompa At The House
Madre No Me Pida In Dub
Chaos In The Heat (Last Transmission)
Drafting Shadows/Leaving La Habana (Peaceful)

Amazon.com

Your taste for Bill Laswell's collection and reconstruction of various Cuban sounds on Imaginary Cuba depends entirely on your taste for the patented sonic stamp that the producer, bassist, and "mix translator" affixes to nearly all his projects. In other words, Laswell's Imaginary Cuba is just that: a made-up journey through various Afro-Cuban percussion tracks, street singing, and strummed tres melodies, with more than a healthy helping of Laswell's familiar ambient-wash production and sometimes-intrusive, added hip-hop/dub backbeats. Gathering performances by Cuban musicians such as Frank Emilio, Septeto Nacional, Los Ibellis, and others, the disc isn't so much a various-artists compilation as it is a DJ mix, complete with added production and beats that move each track seamlessly into the next. There are moments when Laswell's production takes him to some interesting territory, as on the four "Habana Transmission" tracks, where he layers breakbeats, dub bass lines, and hip-hop snare drums beneath washes of Afro-Cuban percussion and tres guitar parts. However, listeners looking for more traditional Cuban music may be somewhat disappointed, as this is less a faithful recording of Afro-Cuban music than it is one producer's vision of the marriage between Afro-Cuban music and his own already-developed sound. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews:

Unimaginatively Cuban.......2006-07-20

"Imaginary Cuba" falls short of living up to expectations and I hypothesize that the good reviews are a product of circular reporting. This project had so much going for it. First, the content: Cuba is a nation rich with interesting music. Second, the mastermind: Bill Laswell has created jewels remixing music by the likes of Miles Davis and Vodu 155. Third, the concept: a project that trips-out Cuban music was long overdue. What went wrong? For starters, the original recordings are weak. They sound like field recordings made with a microphone placed far away from the musicians. Beyond the sound quality, the source recordings are musically mediocre. This project created music with no hooks or memorable melodies. I dare any of the reviewers who gave this five stars to hum a single melody from "Imaginary Cuba." This CD sounds like the soundtrack to a bad dream as somebody with attention deficit disorder wandered around a musical maze. Finally, Laswell did a weak job of putting everything together. While much of the disc sounds like an amateur field recording, the processed tracks just don't work. The beats, the digital effects and similar components fall flat. While there are some good drum solos, the most redeeming quality about "Imaginary Cuba" is the artwork. One reviewer wrote, "This ain't no Buena Vista Social Club!" That about sums it up.

They often ask "What kind of music is this.".......2005-12-28

Imaginary Cuba will sell itself to almost anyone with
an open mind for music. Bill incorporates a couple of different
styles into the tracks that makes some toe tapping fun. The Cuban
influence and a touch of Bill Laswell make a perfect combination
for a great listen.
Enjoy.

Stunning document of modern day Cuba ..........2000-09-05

From the run-down streets of Havana, Cuba, from the dilapidated residences of some of the island's best musicians and from the outdated studios run by the communist state comes this fascinating project by world beat performer / producer extraordinaire, Bill Laswell.

Imaginary Cuba documents music recently made by musicians still trapped in Fidel Castro's broken-down, farcical revolution, then transformed by Laswell in his studios. Well known for his work with the group Material and various other jazz / fusion projects, Laswell's now brought a wealth of inventive, traditional rhythms over from the island nation and infused them with his inimitable world-music vision and smooth, funky, groove-laden bass playing.

Like all traditional Cuban music, the tracks found on Imaginary Cuba are percussion-heavy. They were created in part by groups or individuals, and then received Laswell's production treatment. Los Ibellis, Clave Y Guaguancó, Tata Güines, Frank Emilio, Raul Planas, Guillermo Pompa, Septeto Nacional and others participated in Cuba.

The album is at times minimalist ("Los Ibellis", "Guerillero Heroico [El Che Vive!]"), sometimes sweet and delicate ("Dejale la Puntica" and "Madre No Me Pida In Dub"), and still at others intense. "Habana Transmission 3 # / Shango Sound Scan", "Pompa at the House" and "Hombre Lobo No! Hombre Nuevo, Si" fall under this category.

It also seems to express in music the very desperation that Cubans living there today must feel. This is Afro-Cuban trance, ladies and gentlemen. Laswell's dub/groove-tinged production technique, featuring loads of ambient reverb and echo effect, is instantly recognizable on every track.

"Chacon and Daniel" is built around a conga and bongo riff that was recorded on a street. Laswell leaves in the ambient noises (crickets, cars, etc.), then tweaks them and enters with his bass dub. Near the end a son guitar and a flute-like sound teases the listener.

The Cuba pictured within the booklet is very real: disgustingly decaying "soláres" (tenements), where the people live practically on top of each other; the narrow, sullen alleyways between dwellings; the crumbling streets where souls with nothing better to do sulk. An aerial view of the city of Havana graces the insert of the cover.

The cover itself is worthy of note. It features a pregnant woman unsurely gazing at the photographer (Daniel Laine) with a wary, "I don't really believe anymore" look in her eye. Behind her, an innocent child at play, unaware of the true implications that the revolution carries; a portrait of the felled hero, Ernesto "Che" Guevarra, hangs on a crumbling wall. The colors red and black, official colors of Fidel Castro's 26th of July movement, figure importantly into the design of the disc.

Not entirely gloomy, Imaginary Cuba, is also thought provoking and quite interesting. Paddy Moloney, founder and head of Wicklow records is the executive producer. Downbeat magazine, in its February 2000 edition might have hit it right on the head when they wrote: "Laswell has created a swirling hallucination of Cuban life, a surrealistic aural travelogue." It is a very real portrayal of Cuba - the imaginary, or ideal, one is of the past and the near future.

This is the good stuff..........2000-06-10

Ohhh yeah. Nice work Bill! Good job!

This one's da bomb. Pick it up! It'll take you to a Cuban sunset, a midnight drumjam, Sunday evening lounge piano... all over the island. Trancendental.

Unusual mix of sounds, but it works beautifully.......2000-01-27

While Laswell is often criticized for releasing too many albums of mediocre quality, you certainly can't fault him on this one. Somehow he mixes tradtional cuban rhythms with hip hop, techno, and dub, and make the whole thing sound seamless from beginning to end. This is great headphone music, and as good as any Laswell release, including the brilliant Axiom Ambient collection from '94. It's great to see someone still taking some risks in music, and better yet, succeeding at it.

Rock Music:

Rock Music

rock music

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