Mexican Institute of Sound

Camilo Lara's second album continues the project he started on Mejico Maxico -- painting an aural picture of today's Mexico in full, vibrant, endlessly knob-twiddled sound samples. But where his first album felt like artfully composed background music, Pinata stands out for its combination of inventive sampling and actual grooves. Lara's at his best when he enlists the help of rappers on songs like "El Microfono," which provides a human anchor to the sonic pastiche and closes with a Cafe Tacuba sample.