Helado Negro: KCRW Guest DJ set

Hearts beat loud in polyrhythmic tandem as we welcome singer-songwriter, producer, synthesizer enthusiast, and crafter of vast imaginative soundscapes — Roberto Carlos Lange (aka Helado Negro) — for a KCRW Guest DJ set. The South Florida-born, Asheville-based artist is in the midst of a major world tour in support of his freshly released LP PHASOR which includes a Feb. 21 stop at the Belasco in Los Angeles. Tickets are still available… (depending on when you’re reading this).

Read on, and/or listen (using the player button to your left) as he guides us through his choice selects. Pro-tip: Stay tuned to the very end of the set, a live mashup for the ages awaits you.

Debbie Deb – “When I Hear Music”

I just love when the drums kick in, this 808 beat, and then the vocals kick in. There's a call and response where it's like [Debbie Deb] sings her verse and there's a vocoder response to it. It's like the robot voice. Every element of this song has got a slice of something that's in my music: these organic drums that are mixed in there, [after you hear] the 808 kick in, all sudden, someone starts playing drums over it.

… All of these parts of my world are in that, in some kind of form or another. I feel like I've taken little bits and pieces from [this song]. I just love that feel, it reminds me of people having like, you know, 24 eight inch speakers in their trunk.

Sylvester – “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight”

[This one] didn't come until a lot later in my life, but I love this song. It's produced by Patrick Cowley and what I’ve come to love as well is learning more about his music and production. His aesthetic feels like — [for] as much as like he was producing larger acts like Sylvester who were like more a little more well known — his aesthetic feels a little more like home studio style. The way he was assembling [his productions] didn't feel super polished, but it felt original and unique.

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – “Bad Luck (Feat. Teddy Pendergrass)”

When you put this song on it kind of like, revitalizes you. [I put this on to] clear my head, it isn't about me not thinking about anything. I think clearing my head is more like… I want to re-energize myself. Like, I want to feel good again. It's not so much about calmness, but it's more like a way to just be ready to do anything again. That's what this song does.

Roberto De Simone – “La gatta Cenerentola: Secondo coro delle lavandaie”

This is a little bit of a nerdier, headier song. It comes from an opera and I think it's from a section of the opera when these women are washing clothes. They go into a rhythm [with this] song — it's like the textures, the sounds of like the washboard, the washbasins, the scrubbers, and things like that. And their voices are in this kind of atonal chant. It’s really wild. It almost feels alien in some respects, but it's so beautiful to me. When I hear the rhythm of it, I feel like I'm head-banging.