His parents were immigrants from Ecuador, but Roberto grew up in the materialistic lifestyle of southern Florida, U.S.A. Pounding bass beats from passing cars, boom boxes bouncing down the block, and late-night parties provided a foundation for Lange’s interest in sound.
Lange has collaborated with visual and sound artist David Ellis to compose a new series of kinetic sound sculptures. These include typewriters that self-type the lyrics to Grand Master Flash's "The Message" (in rhythm to the song, none-the-less), musical owls drawn out of liquor bottles, owl costumes made out of straws, flying musical birds, motion paintings, and trashcans (full of trash) that are actually living drum machines. Lange has also worked with Paul Duncan and Bear in Heaven as well as famed music producer Guillermo Scott Herren to produce Prefuse 73 and Savath and Savalas as an active member and contributor.
Lange's other projects include ROM, Epstein, as well as Helado Negro. Epstein is Lange's “beats and loops” project, a friendly beast born of the MPC sampler. Epstein's wildly prolific output, including a series of digital releases, full-lengths, and a remix album, is a gauzy, sunny kind of dance music that references DJ mixing, summertime block parties, and mellow compositional noise.
Helado Negro began when Lange moved to New York in 2006. The early group concept grew through projects and experiments Roberto would conduct while recording himself and others in his home studio. Loops, computer synthesis, record samples, and live instruments provided the foundation for the first full-length, Awe Owe, a vibrant, shimmering, full-band Latin psyche-funk-folk epic.
After taking time to create a new series of sound sculptures, release a Helado Negro EP, score one film and begin work on another (based around his animation), Lange recently holed up in a cabin in the Connecticut woods to record the follow-up to Awe Owe. Canta Lechuza is the latest incarnation of Helado Negro and its sound may come as a surprise. Gone is the big collaborative group jam of previous work and in its place is Helado-Negro-as-intimate-solo-project. Canta Lechuza feels like the place it was recorded—its vocals and beats and synth lines coming together to craft a warm, buoyant, comforting electronic dance sound, an effortless, personal thing anchored by Lange's warm, earthy, conversational voice. Based around field recordings and live instrumentation fed through computer processing, Canta Lechuza is a thoroughly modern affair.
It's Our Game
Helado Negro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Es lo que nos quedan
Todo esta aqui
Todo separacen
Tiras las mismas palabras
Blanco, negro, azul
Es lo que nos quedan
Todo separacen
Tiras las mismas palabras
The lyrics to Helado Negro's song "It's Our Game" seem to be exploring themes of division, separation and the difficulty of communication. The lines "Blanco, negro, azul / Es lo que nos quedan" (White, black, blue / It's what's left for us) suggest that despite the myriad of colors and languages in the world, these are the only ones that remain for us to use to try and connect with one another. However, even these colors and words seem to fall short - "Todo separacen / Tiras las mismas palabras" (Everything separates / You throw the same words).
The repetition of the phrase "Todo esta aqui" (Everything is here) could be interpreted as a statement of fact, that everything we need is right in front of us - including the ability to understand and connect with each other. But at the same time, the repeating phrase could also be read as an admission of failure - everything we need is here, but we still can't make it work. The use of Spanish and English throughout the song could also be seen as a metaphor - two languages that exist side by side, yet are often separated and isolated from each other.
Overall, the lyrics to "It's Our Game" offer a complex and thought-provoking meditation on the challenges of communication, understanding, and connection in a world that can often feel divided.
Line by Line Meaning
Blanco, negro, azul
Our choices are limited to only a few options - white, black, or blue
Es lo que nos quedan
These colors are all that remain available to us
Todo esta aqui
Everything we need to play this game is right here before us
Todo separacen
But everything is also divided and disconnected
Tiras las mismas palabras
We keep using the same words and strategies to navigate this situation
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Roberto Lange
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind