Enigmatic combo Danzón El Gato’s debut album ‘El Sonido Bastardo’
El Sonido Bastardo, the debut album by enigmatic collective Danzón El Gato, establishes a fascinating dialogue between jazz, funk and roots music. Formed in the underground hotbed of Madrid’s experimental scene, its members have decided, this time, to start from the groove in order to explore tradition.
Recorded in Madrid, El Sonido Bastardo is a kaleidoscope of rhythms and landscapes: echoes of North Africa, the tropics and Latin America intertwine with a rocky rhythm section, inspired equally by 1970s library music and golden era hip hop. Each track is a sonic journey loaded with influences that sometimes dissolve, leaving the listener in a borderline and polychromatic terrain, a reflection of Madrid itself, a huge city born from the confluence of cultures whose hybridization is palpable at every corner.
This is evident in first single “Ronda”, an exotic groove – soulful, subtly psychedelic and irresistibly transportive. Or “Twangy Morocco”, where reverb-drenched guitars meet the hypnotic pulse of the desert. Rooted in Moroccan traditions and infused with the spirit of Tuareg rock, the track blends rolling, trance-like rhythms with a crisp, twangy edge.
The Madrid duo is joined by a powerful horn section on “La Lucha”, and the track drips with raw, defiant latin soul, setting the perfect stage for Puerto Rican vocalist Marina (of Marina y su Melao) to deliver a fierce and impassioned performance.
From soul-jazz boogaloo in “Amambay” to hard-hitting afro-funk in “A Tu Se”, from chill lounge-exotica like “Fuimos Invencibles” to uptempo afro-disco in “Aktimo Tu Se”, mysterious ethio-jazz vibes like “Patio De Los Leones” or the latin rock influences of “Chapoteo”, the sonic palette for El Sonido Bastardo is colorful and varied.
The creative core of Danzón El Gato is formed by Javier Adán and Santiago Rapallo, two craftsmen of sound, far from the spotlight but always at the forefront. They met at the beginning of this century in Zure Gura, an experimental jazz band that fused Basque tradition with contemporary sounds. Since then, they have shared a journey in projects such as Dead Capo or UMD (Unidad Mínima de Destrucción), as well as having composed experimental pieces for cinema and even the Prado Museum.
Unexpectedly, shortly after the recording was finished, the studio in the Suanzes neighbourhood where the album was conceived was dismantled. The space in which the studio was located, which for years was an epicenter of sound experimentation, gave way to the relentless advance of the real estate market.
El Sonido Bastardo captures the essence of a city in constant transformation, where music comes and goes, anchored in tradition but with a cosmopolitan and exuberant look.
‘El Sonido Bastardo’ out on LP / Digitally on Apr. 4th 2025 via Lovemonk Records
