It All Started With Mix Tapes: Mexican Institute of Sound and "OK!"

One of the wonderful things about living in Albuquerque is that every September, over two usually beautiful weekend evenings, it is the setting for a premier world music festival called Globalquerque. I have been going since its second year in existence, and to date I have had a fantastic time at each year's festival. It is a little secret in Albuquerque. Held at the grounds of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, it utilizes a theater, a large plaza, and a courtyard to give three very different venues for music. The festival staggers the start times for each band, so that if one wants to see the start of a band, they can spend 20 or 30 minutes at one venue and then wander if they wish. You can see each band partially to get a flavor of everything, or you can stay in one venue for one band's concert. You pay for one weekend what you might pay to see one concert for any of these bands in another city. Yet it is not as well attended as it could be. I don't know if Albuquerqueans don't know about, or don't think they'd like it, or what. I have tried to persuade people to go and gotten the usual complaints about cost (it's actually cheap) and the "I don't know any of the bands" (so open your horizons) and other excuses. Yet the people who I have persuaded to go have loved it. And people I know from out of town who have come have asked me if I realize how lucky we are to have such an event (believe me, I do). I have never seen anything I didn't like, though some of the acts have challenged me. And I've seen some fantastic performances and surprises. Last year, when Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha came on stage, they blew the theater audience away with their energy, their costumes and their amazing mix of Ukrainian traditional folk and jazz and even hip-hop.

One of the pleasant surprises for me at Globalquerque a few years ago was the Mexican Institute of Sound. The music was in the courtyard area of the festival, and when we got in it was clear that it wasn't your usual courtyard music. The courtyard is usually reserved, though not always, for quieter music and acts but we came in on the middle of the set and the joint was jumping. Camilo Lara was rapping, there was a DJ and scratcher going at it on an electronic turntable, and people were jumping up and down like it was a rave. It was easy to see why it was so infectious. The music was fun, and it was conducted in a mix of Spanish and English which, if you live in New Mexico, touches both cultures. And the music was from Mexico and those guys know how to party. I think that by the time Mexican Institute of Sound was done, we were all sweating and happy because we had danced and jumped so much. I hope that the Mexican Institute of Sound comes back to a future festival.

Created by Mexico City DJ and producer Camilo Lara, Mexican Institute of Sound is an electronic music project that fuses folk and traditional Mexican music with modern sounds. Lara started his music project by creating holiday mixes and remixes of popular songs for friends, which he labeled Mexican Institute of Sound. After awhile, he began to put together his own compositions and creations, which have developed on his albums to be carefully crafted and constructed collages of music and electronica that is intended to open a window into Lara's life, experiences and impressions of Mexico City. He officially founded Mexican Institute of Sound in 2005, and in 2006 released his first album, Méjico Máxico, which received critical acclaim. He has since released three more Mexican Institute of Sound albums, with a fifth due in 2015. This song, OK!, can be found on the first Mexican Institute of Sound album, Méjico Máxico.