Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS; es, Instituto Mexicano del Sonido — ''IMS'') is an electronic music project created by Mexico City-based DJ and producer Camilo Lara. Along with groups like
Nortec Collective
Nortec Collective was a musical ensemble formed by various individual one- or two-man production projects. The group came together in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Their genre mixes electronic music with musical elements and instrumentation o ...
and
Kinky, M.I.S. is part of a growing Mexican electronica movement, encouraging fusions of folk and more traditional music with modern sounds.
Career
Lara's annual Christmas compilation of the year's best tracks and early Mexican Institute of Sound songs became a collector's item in a niche market.
This hobby led Lara to collaborate on remixes under the moniker of ''Mexican Institute of Sound'' for bands and friends such as
Placebo
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
, Le Hammond Inferno,
Gecko Turner and
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Babasonicos became one of ...
. 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. M.I.S. has 5 albums.
Mejico Maxico,
Piñata
A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled ...
,
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...
,
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
and Disco Popular. 3 EP's Extra Extra Extra!, Suave Patria, IMS vs Sant.
In 2006, Mexican Institute of Sound released its debut album, ''Méjico Máxico'', on
Nacional Records
Nacional Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It is home to numerous artists including Manu Chao, Grammy-nominated Mexican electronica group Nortec Collective, Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, Argentine rock ...
. It is a
pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
of
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
,
dub,
cha-cha-cha
Cha cha cha may refer to:
* ''Cha-cha-chá'' (music), a style of Cuban dance music
* Cha-cha-cha (dance), a Latin American dance accompanying the music
Film and television
* ''Cha Cha Cha'' (film), a 2013 Italian crime film
* ''Cha Cha Cha'' ...
,
cumbia
Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include:
...
and
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
. The album helped M.I.S. garner critical acclaim in publications like ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', the ''New York Times'', and ''
URB'', as well as radio support from such tastemakers as
KCRW
KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...
(Los Angeles),
Indie 103
KDLD is a commercial FM radio station in Santa Monica, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area on 103.1 MHz. KDLE is a commercial FM radio station in Newport Beach, California, broadcasting to the Orange County area on 103.1&n ...
(Los Angeles),
KEXP
KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non-p ...
(Seattle), and
KUT
Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people.
It ...
(Austin).
Mexican Institute of Sound released its second album, ''
Piñata
A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled ...
'', in 2007. The disc continued the vision established by the debut as a collage of musical influences that reflect Lara's impression of life in the sprawling metropolis of
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. Special guests include members of
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood", " Genius of Love", and a cover ...
,
Fantastic Plastic Machine, and
Babasónicos
Babasónicos is an Argentine rock band, formed in the early 1990s along with others such as Peligrosos Gorriones and Los Brujos. After emerging in the wave of Argentine New Rock bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Babasonicos became one of ...
.
Songs from M.I.S. releases have been featured in
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Ugly Betty
''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian t ...
'', Showtime's ''
Californication Californication may refer to:
*Californication (word)
''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...
'', New Line Cinema's ''
Pride and Glory'', a
Dos Equis
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
national advertising campaign, and video games such as
EA Games
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
''
FIFA 08
''FIFA 08'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 08'' in North America ) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on all popular gaming formats in September 2007 in Eur ...
'', which features El Microfono, and
Xbox Games Studios' ''
Forza Horizon 5
''Forza Horizon 5'' is a 2021 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the fifth ''Forza Horizon'' title and twelfth main instalment in the ''Forza'' series. The game is set in a fictionalised r ...
'', which features Vamos. In Australia, "Escríbeme Pronto" was featured in a 2009 ice-cream advertisement.
In 2010, MIS released the song "Suave Patria" for the parade for the Bicentennial of Independence of Mexico; the homonymous
EP contains six tracks. Camilo created this music in an attempt to evoke some passages of the Mexican Constitution and represent a soundscape Homeland. Their song "Alocatel" was featured in EA Sports' ''
FIFA 10
''FIFA 10'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 10'' in North America) is a Association football, football Simulation video game, simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was release ...
''. Their video for their song "Katia, Tania, Paulina y la Kim" from ''Piñata'' has been featured on
Link TV
Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, is a non-commercial American satellite television network providing what it describes as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It is carried nationally on DirecTV (ch. 375) and Dish Network (ch. ...
.
In 2012, they released their fourth studio album, ''Politico'', which contained songs that relate, as the album title implies, to a political environment. "Es Toy" was one of its most successful singles. In 2013, MIS made a radio station on East Los FM Grand Theft Auto V, while the song "Es Toy" appears in the game. In 2014 Camilo Lara recorded his fifth studio album, with Toy Selectah. With
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
's help, they are recording in Jamaica, the US (New York and Los Angeles), London, and Brazil. The disc had many collaborators, including
Ana Bárbara
Altagracia Ugalde Mota (born January 10, 1971), better known as Ana Bárbara, is a Mexican singer, actress, television personality and model. She has become a prominent figure within Latin entertainment since her professional debut in 1994 and is ...
(
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
Mexican singer-songwriter), Sly and Robbie, Toots Maytals, Gogol Bordello (Eugene),
Nina Sky
Nina Sky is an American musical duo consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single "Move Ya Body", released from their self-titled debut album in 2004, was a success, reaching number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...
, Money Mark, MC Lyte, N.A.S.A., Kool AD (Das Racist), Kut Masta, Kurt Chrome Sparks, Eric Bobo (
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...
), Tanto Blacks, Chedda Helado, Negro Kita, Kaine Notch, Maluca Mala, Benjamin Lozinger (Mø), DJ Lengua, Matty Rico, Tiombe Lockhart, Angela Hunte, Mela Murder, Los Master Plus, Centavrvs, Sergio Mendoza J. (Los Planetas), Carlos Ann, Ohmega Watts, DJ Dusty, Stro Elliot Pharo (
The Leftovers), Dezzie Gee (The Leftovers), Speakz, Nic Haircourt, and Pilar (
Los Abandoned
Los Abandoned were an American alternative rock band from the Los Angeles, California area. The band's lyrics were in Spanish and English, or a combination of the two known as Spanglish. Their biggest hits were "Panic-oh!," "Van Nuys (es Very N ...
). In 2015 Camilo released his fifth album, 'Compass' alongside Toy Selectah.
After four years with no new material, MIS released their single "Mi T-Shirt De La NASA" in advance of the fifth studio album by MIS. 'Disco Popular' was released on Nov 3rd, 2017. Recorded in Jamaica, Mexico and the US, it contains appearances from: La Yegros, Calexico &
Orkesta Mendoza, Press Kay, Lorna, Toots Hibbert, Sly & Robbie, Pamputae & Ranco and Adan Jodorowsky. That same year, Lara was brought on as a creative consultant to the animated film ''
Coco''. He helped director
Lee Unkrich
Lee Edward Unkrich (born August 8, 1967) is an American film director, film editor, screenwriter, and animator. He was a longtime member of the creative team at Pixar, where he started in 1994 as a film editor. He later began directing, first as ...
"navigate all the different rhythms from Mexico…to understand the geography of the music." He also helped arranged and produce many of the songs of the film and assisted composer
Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino (; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. He has also served as a director for television. He has received many awards, including an Oscar for his work on '' Up'' (2009), a ...
. Under MIS, Lara provided the song "Jálale" to the film's soundtrack, and makes a cameo as a skeleton DJ in a party scene of the movie.
MIS contributed a cover of the Metallica song "
Sad But True
Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow (emotion), sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and ...
", featuring rappers La Perla and Gera MX, to the charity tribute album ''
The Metallica Blacklist
''The Metallica Blacklist'' is a various artists tribute album featuring covers of every track from Metallica's 1991 self-titled album (commonly known as ''The Black Album''). The collection was assembled in conjunction with the original album' ...
'', released in September 2021.
Discography
* ''
Méjico Máxico'' (2006)
* ''
Piñata
A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled ...
'' (2007)
* ''Soy Sauce'' (2009)
* ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' (2012)
* ''Disco Popular'' (2017)
* ''Distrito Federal'' (2021)
EPs
*''Extra!Extra!Extra!'' (2007)
*''Suave Patria'' (2010)
*''IMS vs Sant'' (2015)
References
External links
MIS websiteNacional Records (US label)from Austin360.com
{{Authority control
Mexican electronic musical groups
Musical groups established in 2004
Nacional Records artists