Venezuelan electronic pioneer Oksana Linde has released her first album, Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989)
Unpublished for several decades, Oksana Linde is finally realizing her dream with the release of her debut album, Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989), via Buh Records.
Produced by: Oksana Linde
There is an old proverb that says “anything worth having is worth waiting for.” And we agree, but we don’t believe that the author had intended for us to wait this long. Yet here we are listening to Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989) 41 years after it was first conceived.
In 1981 at the age of 33 Linde left her job and turned her focus to her first loves: music and painting. With little money, Linde decided to take on a loan to purchase a polymoog synth, a TEAC open reel tape recorder, and a Moog Source. With these instruments, Linde set up her first home studio and soon began to compose her initial pieces.
Once set up, she would become a prolific composer producing 60 plus pieces between 1984 and 1996. At this time two of her recordings were published: “Mariposas acuáticas” [Aquatic Butterflies], which appeared in 1985 in the international compilation Snx – The entomology of tomorrow’s popular music published by the French label Hawai. And Matices [Hues], a work composed for a television show of the same name, produced by the National Institute for Educational Cooperation (INCE), in 1986.
As we turn our sights to the current collection, Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989), Linde’s compositions are a wonderful surprise and a great discovery that shows another perspective of electronic music made by women from Latin America. Considering the path taken to get to this point, it is a miracle that something of this magnitude has seen the light of day. And as an unconventional entrant into the world of music, Oksana Linde’s journey begs to be remembered and preserved.
Of the album’s 12 songs, many moments stand out. Predominantly live, numerous recordings are overlapped and looped onto others to create what we hear today. With the sounds varying from track to track, Linde is a master at pulling everything together to convey her artistic vision. At times sounds of children having fun are ever-present on ‘Mariposas Acuáticas.’ Or as in ‘Estudio para una sinfonía folclórica ucraniana’ where Linde conjures up what sounds like an orchestra just beginning to come into cohesion. Overall, Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989) is an approachable, contemporary, and heartwarming album that offers many moments of contemplation. In a world that seems ever-so-exhausting and tiresome, Oksana Linde’s music is a breath of fresh air.
Aquatic and Other Worlds (1983-1989) is available today on streaming services.
Standout Songs: Playa Caribe, Estudio para una sinfonía folclórica ucraniana , Psicocatálisis, Descubrimiento
8.2
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