Mexican Institute of Sound – Soy Sauce

Been keeping up with Mexico City's emerging electronica scene? No, me neither. Apparently Camilo Lara is one of its lynchpins, and you can well believe that upon hearing this album. Instituto Mexicano del Sonido, as they are known in their homeland, are founded on his interest in scratchy electro beats as well as his towering and oft-referenced collection of vinyl records. Those are presumably the source of some of the sounds, especially on tracks like opener "Cumbia" that are heard on this, MIS' third album to date. I'm not sure what the significance of the title is, given that "soy" means "I am", accordingly to my admittedly fairly weak grasp on Spanish...There's an inherent thrill in hearing music from a place as exotic and far removed from the conventional musical landscape as Mexico, and that thrill is only enhanced if you get a kick out listening to Spanish-language music, as I do. On the wordier songs here, like "Alocatel" you can just roll with it, easily imagine that spectacularly cool things are being sung about, made easier still by the brassy accompaniment and staggered "al-o-ca-tel..." repeating backing vocals. Also picking out the odd apparently recognisable phrase, like "Pink Floyd" and "Dick van Dyke" is a joy in itself. The fusion of old and new sounds is an engaging one, but the trouble is that Soy Sauce is just dangerously patchy. There's too much filler here, like the surprisingly tiresome closer "Chiflideur" and the bizarre flop of a cover of "Bittersweet Symphony" (no, seriously) called "Sinfonia Agridulce". But there's some quality stuff too, where that exotic flavour shines through, and the music has enough focus and immediacy.Many of the stronger tracks are stacked up in the first half - "Yo Digo Baila" is a highlight, with some of the album's best vocals, putting it alongside the duets "Jalale" and "White Stripes" which are possibly the album's strongest efforts. The latter is the grittiest thing here, with jangling bells over its beats, English vocals, and the confession "I'm too drunk too dance, and my head is kind of spinning." Such are the kind of parties Camilo Lara holds, presumably. Soy Sauce could do with being considerably more concise, with four or five tracks arguably begging for being excised to make a leaner, more dynamic, and more consistent record. Nevertheless, there is much to like here and that joy of hearing something from a musically out-of-the-way place, especially somewhere with the dualism and hazy allure of Mexico, remains. With any luck, MIS will continue to pave the way to Mexican music being a bigger player on the world scene. 72%Mexican Institute of Sound on MySpace