Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time)

Pioneering avant-garde electronic selections from Cuban composer Juan Blanco, founder of the ICAP Electroacoustic Music Worskshop, the Castro government’s version of CCRMA which he funded with his work for the Department of Propaganda. Before you write this off as commie noise, keep in mind autocratic societies pretty much require you to make ethical compromises if you want a career in the arts or sciences without risking your life. At turns sparsely minimal or densely academic, this is amazing, unique stuff. RIYL Terry Riley, Maggi Payne, Kurt James Werner, Antonio Russek

1. (12:50) rapid Latin jazz percussion accompanies vibrant algorithmic loops. heavy timbales reminiscent of Tito Puente with complex layers of bleeping electronics, really cool stuff
2. (5:31) brilliant, lonely lovely loops of slow drones, think Gunter Schlienz
3. (15:44) haunting ambient soundscapes swell in eerie dissonance; towards the end there’s some female moaning samples, final minute concludes with whooshing, sweeping sounds and post-orgasmic muttering, aptly titled “Ella” (“she”)
4. (9:32)** wide sweeping sci-fi oscillations, experiments in tone that don’t really go anywhere until around ~5mins some dreamy blissful soundscapes emerge
5. (11:45) weird and woozy oscillating timbres with solemn, winding saxophone accompaniment
6. (9:02) 1st half: is this what whale songs would sound like if there were whales in outer space?; 2nd half: RIYL Lustmord, Thomas Koner, SUPER EERIE whispering in Spanish, chills down my spine