Deadly: The Mexican Institute of Sound and "Killer Kumbia"

Another short one today, this time by the The Mexican Institute of Sound. The Mexican Institute of Sound is Mexico City-based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music with modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mix tapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began making musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound while relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. This song, Killer Kumbia, is from his 2007 CD Piñata.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Institute_of_Sound

Don't Despair: The Mexican Institute of Sound and "Para No Vivir Desesparado"

Our random tune for today is provided by The Mexican Institute of Sound. The Mexican Institute of Sound is Mexico City-based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music with modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mix tapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began making musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound while relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. This song, Para No Vivir Desesparado, is from his 2007 CD Piñata.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Institute_of_Sound

Four Lovely Ladies: The Mexican Institute of Sound and "Katia, Tania, Paulina y la Kim"

One of Mike's favorites is on tap for the random tune of the day. Katia, Tania, Paulina y la Kim is by the Mexican Institute of Sound. MIS, as it is also known, is Mexico City-based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music with modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mix tapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began making musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound while relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. Katia, Tania, Paulina y la Kim is from his 2007 CD Piñata. The Youtube above has the whole version of the song. Below, you can see the shorter, commercial video of the song.

Desperation: The Mexican Institute of Sound and "Para No Vivir Desesparado"

The Mexican Institute of Sound brings us our random tune for today. The Mexican Institute of Sound is Mexico City-based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music with modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mix tapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began making musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound while relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. This song, Para No Vivir Desesparado, is from his 2007 CD Piñata.

Dances: Mexican Institute of Sound and "La Kebradita"

"Come on baby, let's do The Twist." One of the first songs I think I remember in my life was The Twist. As I did a little reflecting on today's random song, which is named after a dance called La Quebradita, I started tallying up some songs in my head. I was amazed at how many I could think of that were named after dances. The Twist, obviously but then there were others. I can remember the Loco-Motion, the Hustle, the Electric Slide, the Boot Scootin' Boogie, the Watusi, the Time Warp, and the Macarena, to name a few. There are a lot. Just listen to the song The Land of 1000 Dances and you can hear Wilson Pickett go through a whole list of them. It seems like we like to sing about dancing and styles of dances almost as much as we like to sing about love, or women.

And what is La Quebradita? It is a dance that requires a lot of strength to perform. It's name refers to a "little break," in which the male partner lowers his female partner almost to the floor and then jerks her back up. However, there is a lot more going on there. The dance is very fast, and the examples I've seen make it look like the male partner whips the female partner around on her feet, with lots of acrobatics such as throwing her in the air and catching her. Sometimes she is thrown into spins, sometimes into flips. It's not an old person's dance by any means.

In La Kebradita, the Mexican Institute of Sound slows the beat down a bit. The Mexican Institute of Sound is Mexico City-based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music with modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mix tapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began making musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound while relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. La Kebradita is from his 2007 CD Piñata.

A Little Naughty: Mexican Institute of Sound and "A Girl Like You"

Poon-chee-ta-ta poon-chee-too. This is the lyric repeated over and over, in a slightly enhanced whisper, in Mexican Institute of Sound's A Girl Like You. At least that's what it sound like. When I looked up the lyrics, this is how it is actually written: Bu ti tata bu ti to. Either way, it sounds slightly naughty. Why, I can't really say. Why do certain sounds said certain ways conjure up all kinds of images? If you just say that lyric normally, in a normal voice, then it doesn't sound half so scandalous. But put it in a half whisper and give it a steady rhythm, and suddenly one thinks of other things.

A glance, a look, a way of speaking, a word, a motion, a gesture...any of these things done one way can be completely innocent, but done another way trigger responses in our brains and perhaps even deeper instincts. I have always been amazed at how easily we are triggered and how music and sound can be one of those triggers. Is a moan one of pain...or something else? Without context, our minds can run wild with speculation and titillation. And even our context matters - where, when and how we interpret those sounds, movements and gestures can vary from place to place and situation to situation. So many variables!

I have never been able to listen to A Girl Like You without interpreting it in a certain way, however. Perhaps that says something about me. Or perhaps I interpret the song, even without knowing the words, just as it was meant to be interpreted.

A Girl Like You is the product of the Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS), MIS is Mexico City based producer and DJ Camilo Lara's electronic music project. Fusing Mexican folk music modern sounds, MIS is part of a growing movement in Mexican music. Lara started with mixing music for holiday mixtapes, and after getting enthusiastic receptions for his creations, began creating musical collages under the moniker Mexican Institute of Sound, relying on samples of Mexican classical music. He has released four albums, with a fifth due next year. A Girl Like You has a lush, sensual sound that was apparently used with great effect in the Showtime TV series Californication. It can be found on MIS's 2007 album Piñata.