Epstein: Sealess See (Asthmatic Kitty, 1/25/11)
Epstein is Roberto Carlos Lange, a.k.a. sample-based collage maestro Helado Negro. The new combo video for the first two tracks from the recently released Sealess See LP, “Jelly Fish” and “Foam on Top,” is animated and directed by artist Allison Berkoy. Watch as Lange — all leg and arms and creepy head — does his best jellyfish impression amidst increasingly bizarre sea life. As the video transitions into the down-tempo second half, a far more serious Lange-head emanates light.
On Sealess See, out now on Asthmatic Kitty, Lange builds on his own rich musical history, which ranges from subdued, guitar-based compositions and Spanish vocals, to dense pastiches of drum-machine beats and piled MPC-filtered ephemera. Clear-eyed pop moments are infused with psychedelic flourishes and tactile percussion that bubbles, whirs, and grooves. It’s a sound befitting the albums’ marine theme: impossibly wide-ranging, mysterious, and ever-changing.