I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: HELADO NEGRO-Tiny Desk Concert #632 (June 30, 2017).

It’s unfair that I have recently really enjoyed songs by Chicano Batman because Helado Negro sounds so much like Chicano Batman that I would certainly have guessed that’s who this was (although Chicano Batman is a bit more catchy and groovy).

Helado Negro is a band: [Roberto Lange (vocals, guitar); Nathaniel Morgan (sax); Angela Morris (sax, violin); Ben Lanz (bass guitar); Weston Minissali (synthesizer); Jason Nazary (drums)] and this is what Felix has to say about them

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.

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 young American with Ecuadorian parents, singing about life in here in the U.S.

Our little concert here also shows off an acoustic treatment of Helado Negro’s vision, and it’s just as compelling without the electronics. In fact, it’s as if the songs reveal a different aspect of themselves, the lyrics intimate and laid bare. Personally, I loved the sound of the alto and tenor saxophones playing harmonies in place of a bank of keyboards. As you’ll see, the entire band perfected that delicate balance of intensity and low volume, letting the music and ideas breathe.

They play four songs.  They are all mellow

“Transmission Listen” opens with Lange singing and playing guitar and then the full horns kick it, and that’s when it sounds like Chicano Batman (in a good way).

“Young, Latin and Proud” is very catchy.  This song reminds me of Sandro Perri–mellow and gentle with his smooth voice rising above it all.  I like at the end that he mentions his audience: “Felix is young Latin & proud, mi abuela is young Latin & proud.”

For “Run Around” he doesn’t play guitar.  There’s a nice use of violins instead of strings in the beginning and some cool synth sounds.  I liked the squeaky violin noises at the end.

“It’s My Brown Skin” is a happy song–indeed I love that he loves who he is and where he comes from: “My skin glows in the dark / shines in the light / its the color that holds me tight.”  The ending melody is really pretty (played on sax and violin) “I love you and I can’t miss anything about you / you’re stuck on me and all this time I’m inside you  / And its your brown skin… it’ll keep you safe.”

[READ: April 4, 2017] “Necessary Driving Skills”

This story was, wait for it, all over the map (ha) in some ways.  It is all about driving, (see, ha).  But it is about much more than driving.  It is about relationships, friendship, business and of course, driving.

It even starts: “This is the story.”

It continues: “Kim Le Bouedec and I run the Finchley Mint.  And I’ve just kissed his wife.”

The narrator, Neil, and Kim were friends in college.  And it follows that thought with this: “You see, this is the paradoxical thing about my age group (and yours–if it hasn’t happened yet, it will.) The more we settle, the more opportunities there are for disruption.”

Neil details: Simon and Maxine are married with a ten month old daughter.  Luke is married to Helen (who worked with the Neil’s wife Jill), there’s Kim and his wife Sasha.  “My circle of friends, turning square.”

Neil and Kim work at this Mint. It’s a business in which they sell “die cast model cards by mail order. Don’t laugh.”

There’s some back story (amusing) as to how they decided to purchase these cars (about 10,000).

Kim is one of those sports fans whose knowledge extends beyond the major sports to volleyball, pro mah-jongg and saloon-stock-car racing.  He says there are some 2 million fans of the latter sport worldwide and the world champion was the U.K.’s own Willie Webster.  Webster drove the exact model of car that they bought.  They talked to Webster and worked out a deal with his sponsors and then it fell through–because of the sponsors.

So they went after the next possibility–an up and coming star (they hoped).

Meanwhile, Luke and Helen were having marital problems.  They decided to rent a cottage for two weeks to see if they should move out to the boonies.  And they invited everyone out for some fun. They took an excursion and then drove back to the cottage.  On the way back they mixed partners–perhaps out of  sense of communal guilt for not talking to each other.  Maxine and Neil drove together.  Maxine has noticed the same thing that Neil has–that “we mind our own business…we used to be so into one another.”

He looks at her and thinks how easy it would have been to lift up her t-shirt and run his tongue down her stomach.  Although the mood changes somewhat when she says Simon minds that you and I shagged.

They played a game, Mr and Mrs One, in which they asked questions:

I got:

1. Is Jill more scared of (a) plane crashes; (b) car crashes; (c) spiders?

2. Which would give Jill the greatest satisfaction: getting (a) a gay man; (b) a straight woman; (c) a celibate into bed?

3. Does Jill prefer (a) giving head; (b) receiving head; (c) Radiohead?

The correct answers were (b), (c), (c). I answered (c), (b), (c). One out of 3.

Jill got:

1. Would Neil prefer to be cuckolded by (a) Nico Rosberg; (b) Jenson Button; (c) Jason Skoyles?

2. Would Neil prefer to operate (a) the robotic arm of a submersible sampling extremophiles in a deep-sea hydrothermal vent; (b) a mini-rover exploring ancient Martian lakebeds; (c) a femtosecond laser pulse performing intracellular brain nanosurgery?

3. Does Neil prefer (a) driving; (b) sex; (c) talking about himself?

The correct answers were (b), (c), (b). Jill answered (c), (b), and (b) after half an hour of (c). Two and a half out of 3.

And then we get to the kiss that he and Sasha shared.  It was quick and passionate as she pushed him out the door.

What I loved about the story is that this kiss–mentioned at the start and revealed now is a huge part of the story but Neil is distracted by his driving.  He talks about the animosity between cyclists and drivers (true) and then about a truck that tailgated him for many miles before giving up.

The Sunday after the kiss, Neil and Jill go for a drive.  Neil is driving.  He keeps insisting that he is a good driver: “it should be a pleasure to be driven by a talented driver.”  They have a BMW with great handling.  And he drives fast.  Because he loves the feel of the road and he knows what he is doing (there’s a few paragraphs that are car-tech heavy but they are all justified).

The one thing I was confused about was that he is taking the roads at 95, but I don’t know if that’s miles per hours or kilometers per hour (which is about 60 mph)–a big difference.  Regardless, he is driving and is thinking bad things about his wife–how she apologizes for everything, makes everything her own fault, and is timid about his driving (she was afraid of car crashes after all).  And there’s a wonderful reveal about  the BMW that rally stings.

The next night the gang gathered to watch their driver (remember this is about a toy car).  He was in a race that was important to his career.  If he was successful, he would rank up very high in the seeding and that would obviously be very good for our heroes’ minis.   The party was hopping (they even did some coke, like the good old days) and although Neil doesn’t know this, he flirted heavily and aggressively with Sasha–even told her he loved her many times.

The next night Neil is picking up Sasha (there’s a lengthy part about his masterful parallel parking).  They are alone for the first time since the other night.  They talk about the events of the weekend–how that cottage things didn’t work out. And then finally they start to talk about that kiss.  And adultery.

The climax of the story was pretty exciting with many threads converging.  I really enjoyed the way there were so many parts of the story that seemed to merge in the end–not exactly plots that interested, but details that mirrored back on each other throughout.

I had never heard of Segnit before. but I’m very interested to see some other things that he’s written.