The inaugural edition of Ruido Fest left most of us practically speechless (really!) in the breadth and depth of the music it covered in 3 days, 3 stages and about 10 hours of programming daily. From experimental artists like Guadalajara’s Porter or Descartes to Kant to ferociously retro punk rockabilly en español like Rebel Cats to the Angelino psychedelic tropical beats of Chicano Batman to hip hop cousin duos Los Rakas to crowd-beloved veteranos like Molotov and Café Tacvba, it was a musical extravaganza that put Chicago firmly front and center as a Latino music center. As a festival, Ruido took it’s place proudly amongst Pitchfork, Riot Fest and Lolla as a one-of-a-kind festival that is fast-making us not just the city of big shoulders, but of very very big ears! It was amazing, and this week’s Beat Latino is just a taste of the musical madness that overtook us for one weekend in July. Enjoy!