Imaginary Cuba

Imaginary Cuba is the ninth solo album by the American composer Bill Laswell, released on September 14, 1999, by Wicklow.

Imaginary Cuba
Studio album by Bill Laswell
Released	September 14, 1999 (1999-09-14)
Studio	Orange Music, West Orange, NJ
Genre	Dub, sound collage
Length	57:26
Label	Wicklow
Producer	Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell chronology
Serene Timeless Joy (1999) Imaginary Cuba (1999) Broken Vessels (1999)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Alternative Press	[2]
DownBeat	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]

Critical reception

Noting the influence taken from Latin American music, AllMusic reviewer Rick Anderson wrote: "Imaginary Cuba finds [Laswell] taking an approach somewhat similar to the one he employed on his Off World One project -- building on a foundation of field recordings, he constructs complex and often dub-inflected sound collages that sound like no one but Laswell while still maintaining respect for the music's origins."^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Habana Transmission #1/Avisale a la Vecina Dub"	Bill Laswell	4:57
2.	"Para Clave y Guaguanco"	Amado de Jesús Dedeu Hernández	3:04
3.	"Loungin With F.E."	Frank Emilio Flynn	1:09
4.	"Chacón and Daniel"	Bill Laswell	4:26
5.	"Déjala en la Puntica"	Amado de Jesús Dedeu Hernández	2:21
6.	"Habana Transmission #2/Cuban Evolution"	Bill Laswell	4:39
7.	"Los Ibellis"	Los Ibellis, Bill Laswell	6:37
8.	"Habana Transmission #3/Shango Sound Scan"	Los Ibellis	4:44
9.	"Hombre Lobo, No! Hombre Nuevo, Si"	Bill Laswell	3:48
10.	"Guerillero Heroico"	Bill Laswell	3:33
11.	"Shango"	Los Ibellis	1:15
12.	"Pompa at the House"	Guillermo Pompa	1:53
13.	"Madre No Me Pida in Dub"	Raúl Planas	3:37
14.	"Chaos in the Heat"	Bill Laswell	4:49
15.	"Drafting Shadows/Leaving la Habana"	Bill Laswell	6:34

Personnel

Adapted from the Imaginary Cuba liner notes.^[5]

• Bill Laswell – bass guitar, drum programming, musical arrangements, producer, recording
• Oz Fritz – engineering
• Daniel Laine – photography

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1999	Wicklow	CD	09026-63514-2