Helado Negro (Black Ice Cream? Or Frozen Black?) is the creation of Florida native and son of Ecuadorean immigrants, Roberto Carlos Lange. Lange often composes his music through an improvisational process, which is evident in the atmospheric, often meandering feel of the songs.

Helado Negro’s new release, Awe Owe, is rich with diverse musical and national influences. The production factors prominently in the overall sound and increases the ethereal feel of the often delicate playing. Some songs are almost ambient in their lack of purpose or direction, but it was usually the more traditionally structured songs that really grabbed me. On the whole, the album hangs together very well and with sonic landscapes on it will likely be enjoyed more straight through than as part of a mix on your 5-disc changer or iPod. At least, I think I would have trouble pairing this with other music (maybe Mino Cinelu?).

I particularly like these 5 tracks.

• Venceremos – A traditional sounding song with gently strummed guitar and a great mix of percussion instruments – with a little extra melody from vibes – vamping behind Lange’s pleasant alto.
• Dahum – This is a dreamy song with modern post-production effects applied to the vocals and percussion. About halfway through the song, woodwinds kick in and the rest fades away. It’s a beautiful composition. It appears the produced an actual video for this song which can be viewed below:

• Awe – The entire composition is built around the repetition of just a few chords, but what is going on behind it changes all the time. For the simplicity of the skeleton, this song is complex and interesting.
• Ver A Ver – A small and pretty piece again featuring vibes and woodwinds. This one doesn’t really go anywhere, but it’s only 2 ½ minutes long so it holds your interest.
• Santero – The tribal percussion and instrumental melody sound almost West African, but the song borrows heavily from Jazz as well. My Spanish is weak, so I don’t know what he’s singing about when he’s not just singing scat.

Interestingly, when I put this in my computer, iTunes displayed the genre as Unclassifiable. I’ll admit it’s a poser, but hey, you can always just lump it in with that broad catch-all, World Music.