Mexican Institute of Sound
Mexican Institute of Sound |
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Mexican Institute of Sound (also known as “M.I.S.” or in Spanish as Instituto Mexicano Del Sonido) is an electronic music project created by Mexico City-based DJ and producer Camilo Lara. By day, Lara is the president of EMI Mexico and at night he is mastermind of M.I.S. Along with groups like Nortec Collective and Kinky, M.I.S. is part of a growing Mexican electronica movement, encouraging fusions of folk and more traditional music with modern sounds. Songs from M.I.S. releases have been featured in ABC’s “Ugly Betty”, Showtime’s “Californication”, New Line Cinema’s “Pride & Glory”, a Dos Equis’ national advertising campaign and the EA Games “FIFA 2008” video game.
History
Renowned for his collection of more than 45,000 vinyl albums, Lara distinguished himself as a musical trendsetter among his circle of friends with his annual Christmas compilation of the year’s best tracks and early Mexican Institute of Sound songs. This hobby led Lara to collaborate on remixes under the moniker of Mexican Institute of Sound for bands and friends such as Placebo, Le Hammond Inferno, Gecko Turner and Babasonicos. In 2005, he officially founded the M.I.S. project, relying on classic Mexican music samples ranging from the 1920s to the 1960s mixed with Esquivel vocal samples and modern scratches/beats.
Albums
In 2006, Mexican Institute of Sound released its debut album, ‘Méjico Máxico’, on Nacional Records. It is an infectious pastiche of electronica, dub, cha cha cha, cumbia and spoken word. The album helped M.I.S. garner critical acclaim in publications like Spin, NY Times, and Urb, as well as radio support from such tastemakers as KCRW (Los Angeles), Indie 103 (Los Angeles), KEXP (Seattle) and KUT (Austin).
Mexican Institute of Sound released its sophomore album, ‘Piñata’, in 2007. The disc continued the vision established by the debut, Mejico Majico, as a carefully constructed collage of musical influences that reflect Lara’s unique impression of life in the sprawling metropolis of Mexico City. Special guests include members of Tom Tom Club, Fantastic Plastic Machine and Babasonicos.
Discography
EPs
- Extra!Extra!Extra! (2007)