​The Mexican Government Just Dropped Three Hot Records

When's the last time the US government put out a collection of weirdo club bangers? Oh right, never. Because the US has one of the lowest art budgets of any developed country in the Western world (1/40th of what Germany doles out, according to Alternet). Mexico, by contrast, has an impressive history of state-sponsored arts and culture, and apparently they've got some pretty hip cats working in their grant offices.

Enter the Center for Digital Culture: an arm of the Mexican government that provides funding and support for all kinds of new media arts projects. Their most recent musical project is Inmersiva, which tapped three different experimental producers to create EPs using audio from the Fonoteca Nacional, a government-sponsored sound archive that's sort of like the Mexican version of the Library of Congress. The series' three releases—by Espectral, Vetiver Bong, and Hexorcismos—dropped in September.

"I've always had a passion for archeology and history, and I found that music is my way of engaging with that," says NAAFI affiliate Espectral, aka Juan Ernesto Díaz, one of the three artists selected for the project. His six-track Inmersiva EP samples recordings of the traditional dances performed by the Ikoots people, an indigenous group on the southern coast of Oaxaca. The project later inspired him to travel to the coastal region to make his own field recordings of indigenous music and dance, he says. "Folkloric music is what taught me to understand the human side of art."

Hexorcismos is the alter ego of Moisés Horta—AKA DJ Nombre Apellido—whom you may know from the Tijuana-based three-piece Los Macuanos. His contribution pulls samples from the work of early Mexican experimental musicians, including Julián Carillo, a composer and music theorist who developed a groundbreaking theory of microtonality in the beginning of the 20th century. It's undoubtedly the creepiest of the bunch. "My goal for this project was to work entirely with Mexican composers who tried to break the mold in terms of sound experimentation," he explains. "I found interesting pieces that play with electronic nuances and alternative scales."

Last up is Vetiver Bong, who is best known for his behind-the-scenes production work with the mega-huge Mexican pop band Los Angeles Azules (The Blue Angels). For his Inmersiva outing, he crafts dark, austere club music by repurposing the rhythms of vintage cumbia recordings.

All three records are streaming via the Center for Digital Culture Soundcloud, and are free to download.

Follow Espectral on Soundcloud here

Follow Hexorcismos, AKA DJ Nombre Apellido, on Soundcloud here

Follow Vetiver Bong on Facebook here

When's the last time the US government put out a collection of weirdo club bangers? Oh right, never. Because the US has one of the lowest art budgets of any developed country in the Western world (1/40th of what Germany doles out, according to Alternet). Mexico, by contrast, has an impressive history of state-sponsored arts and culture, and apparently they've got some pretty hip cats working in their grant offices.

Enter the Center for Digital Culture: an arm of the Mexican government that provides funding and support for all kinds of new media arts projects. Their most recent musical project is Inmersiva, which tapped three different experimental producers to create EPs using audio from the Fonoteca Nacional, a government-sponsored sound archive that's sort of like the Mexican version of the Library of Congress. The series' three releases—by Espectral, Vetiver Bong, and Hexorcismos—dropped in September.

"I've always had a passion for archeology and history, and I found that music is my way of engaging with that," says NAAFI affiliate Espectral, aka Juan Ernesto Díaz, one of the three artists selected for the project. His six-track Inmersiva EP samples recordings of the traditional dances performed by the Ikoots people, an indigenous group on the southern coast of Oaxaca. The project later inspired him to travel to the coastal region to make his own field recordings of indigenous music and dance, he says. "Folkloric music is what taught me to understand the human side of art."

Hexorcismos is the alter ego of Moisés Horta—AKA DJ Nombre Apellido—whom you may know from the Tijuana-based three-piece Los Macuanos. His contribution pulls samples from the work of early Mexican experimental musicians, including Julián Carillo, a composer and music theorist who developed a groundbreaking theory of microtonality in the beginning of the 20th century. It's undoubtedly the creepiest of the bunch. "My goal for this project was to work entirely with Mexican composers who tried to break the mold in terms of sound experimentation," he explains. "I found interesting pieces that play with electronic nuances and alternative scales."

Last up is Vetiver Bong, who is best known for his behind-the-scenes production work with the mega-huge Mexican pop band Los Angeles Azules (The Blue Angels). For his Inmersiva outing, he crafts dark, austere club music by repurposing the rhythms of vintage cumbia recordings.

All three records are streaming via the Center for Digital Culture Soundcloud, and are free to download.

Follow Espectral on Soundcloud here

Follow Hexorcismos, AKA DJ Nombre Apellido, on Soundcloud here

Follow Vetiver Bong on Facebook here