Country : Canada (Quebec) Label : Norté Genres and styles : latino / Rumba Year : 2020

El Gato y Los Rumberos EP

· by Rupert Bottenberg

Quebec musician Boogát built his rep on rap en español over Latin-American laptop beats, but the impression was always there that he chafed a bit at the limitations. It’s thus pleasant, but not entirely surprising, that he’d choose at some point to pull the plug and do a deeper dive into musical history. The teaser for this EP, the fidgety Gypsy-jazz jumper “El Gato Rumbero”, signaled what was to come – an all-acoustic effort, light, bright, and vigorous, shamelessly flirting with outright kitsch as it rifles through outmoded sounds of yesteryear. It’s not the disposable novelty it might have been in lesser hands. Boogát’s vocal delivery is earnest, evocative, and rigorously enunciated – rolling those Rs like a bullwhip – and one could say the same of the compositions here. The energy amps up to the penultimate track, the dangerously rambunctious “Las Miradas No Mienten”. Then the sad-eyed, solemn closer “¡Al Ratito, Catrina!” arrives, almost lugubrious with its funereal trumpets. It’s hardly a bummer, though, not with Natalia Telentso’s stirring vocal takeover in its final third.

Latest 360 Content

Festival des Saveurs | Carminda Mac Lorin, The Woman of Many Hats

Festival des Saveurs | Carminda Mac Lorin, The Woman of Many Hats

SAT X EAF | Amselysen and The Ideal Perfume of A Serial Killer

SAT X EAF | Amselysen and The Ideal Perfume of A Serial Killer

Festival Classica 2025 | Women’s Cellos

Festival Classica 2025 | Women’s Cellos

Nuits d’Afrique 2025: ALL About The Program

Nuits d’Afrique 2025: ALL About The Program

Festival Classica: An Ode to Hope with Elvira Misbakhova

Festival Classica: An Ode to Hope with Elvira Misbakhova

Festival des Saveurs | Aldo Guizmo Goes “Str8 Forward”

Festival des Saveurs | Aldo Guizmo Goes “Str8 Forward”

Deafhaven – Lonely People with Power

Deafhaven – Lonely People with Power

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Subscribe to our newsletter