Helado Negro: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Helado Negro | June 30, 2017 — The artist Helado Negro (Roberto Lange) made a very big impression on me when I first experienced him almost eight years ago. It was a sound I had never quite heard, and I was immediately drawn in; there were layers of synths, percussion that percolated rather than pulsed, vocals that epitomized the world ethereal and lyrics in Spanish and English that floated amidst the music like wisps of smoke. I caught his live show in Mexico City and in Austin, Texas and each time the spectacle of theater and elaborate presentation were just as important as the music (including two dancers covered in what can best be described as Christmas tree tinsel). But that’s not what you’re getting here — instead of tinsel, we get Roberto standing behind Bob Boilen’s desk in a t-shirt that says “Young, Latin and Proud,“ the title of his most recent single. That’s the essence of the songs he chose to play (and really, his entire catalog), music about being a youn