50 Years Of Experimental Mexican Music

One of the hidden gems of the netlabel world is Audition Records, a sister label of the ever so fine ambient and experimental netlabel, Audiotalaia. In their manifesto, Audition writes:

Audition Records is a series of documents centered on different compositional approaches to Free, Noise and all kinds of Experimental and Improvised Music performances as part of an effort to provide a exclusive space where instruments and sonorities can dialogue in freedom and intelligent sensibility, without concern for the semantic school or the stylistic signature of the performers.

[snip]

We like to think more in terms of documents rather than publications or net-releases. We’re not a netlabel. [emphasis added]

Interestingly, even though netlabel curator Julian Bonequi protests about being called a netlabel, Audition as become one of the best netlabels around. In general — and you can imagine that this rule is broken often — Audition releases performance pieces from various sound artists, but they also have released several compilation albums that have look at the work of an artist, label or even concert venue.

In Audition’s latest batch of releases, they released two extraordinary albums which focus on experimental music from Mexico over the last 50 years: Electroacoustic:  Mexico 1960-2007 and Experimental Music and Sound Art: Mexico 1970-2009. For me these two albums of over three hours of music is a jumping off point to explore the music of the 40-some-odd artists. Though curated for Audition by Bonequi, this work first appeared as a 6 DVD set as the exhibit, Ready Media. The exhibit curated by Manuel Rocha Iturbide and Israel Martinez for the Laboratorio De Arte Alameda museum focused on sound art, experimental music, sound poetry, radio art and electroacoustic music in Mexico. You can learn more about this project at artesonoro.net.

These two Audition Records releases are a big and important album. Beyond the fact that there is almost 6,000 words written in the liner notes of these two albums, it would be beyond stupidity for me to attempt any description of these experimental/avant-garde works by such a large collection of artists. Instead, I’ll just leave you with the 1978 track, “Orgón Patafísico Parte 2″, from Decibel, an avant-garde rock band. (

[The photograph, Simultaneous performance, is by  by Pulpolux !!! and is licensed under Creative Commons.]