NEW YORK (KPRENSA) – Mexico has a rich musical history and an ample discography of classic recordings. From the underground of Mexico City now comes up an unexpected record – “Méjico Máxico” by Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS). It is a happy reinterpretation of the musical heritage of Mexico.

MIS is the project of one man, Camilo Lara. During the day he works in one of the thousands of office buildings that hold Mexico City’s 25 million people. At night, he becomes part of the underground music movement and delivers electronic masterpieces with the only help from his computer, his imagination and his awesome collection of records.

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Méjico Máxico is a carefully constructed musical collage with all the sounds of Mexico City. The record features snippets of cumbia, cha cha chas, glimpses of composer Juan Garcia Esquivel, poems by Juan Rulfo, electronica, dub and musical references spanning from the 1920′s through the 60′s.

The combination reflects Mexican Institute of Sound’s unique impression of life in bustling Mexican capital. “It is a record that comes from many places. I listen to many old records, obscure records bought in street markets. I am a great music lover, that is in reality my job.” Lara says. “This record is a by-product of listening to all this music. Also, I include many references of things that I like, the sound of artists that I appreciate, of various kinds ”

And listen to music he does. In his “real” life, Lara is an executive at EMI Mexico. His skill lies in his capacity to select and carefully mix the diverse musical references that will surprise even the most discriminating listener. This skill has distinguished Camilo as a musical trendsetter among his circle of friends in the music industry.

His yearly compilations sent to his friends at Christmas time have become a hunted and rare treasure to be collected. It is how MIS began. This hobby for Lara led him to do remixes for bands like Placebo, Le Hammond Inferno, Gecko Turner or Babasónicos.

Making is own record, however, was technically difficult. Getting the feeling right was very important to Lara. “I use the computer a lot in the record, despite the fact that I’m not good with the computers. he explains ” I used the computer programs in quite a basic way. It’s like the emotion that comes out with a single guitar, but done with a synthesizer.”

Besides his musical choices, Lara also created his project to reflect and comment on the realities of the Mexican life. MIS was chosen as the name as a play on the initials for the Mexican Institute of Social Security. “The Mexican Institute of Social Security is the institution that provides healthcare. It seemed to me that there should exist a Mexican Institute of Sound to provide music.” Lara says “Being a bureaucrat myself, one that works from 9:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon, it seemed to me very sensible to form my “Institute”. I believe in the idea that you can jump from the desk and begin to do music, I want to encourage all the bureaucrats of the world to do that”.

His “Institute” seems to be working. In the capable hands of Camilo Lara, the sonic traditions of Mexico come to life in new and surprising ways. If only all bureaucracies did their job so well.

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