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.