Riding to My Man: Chirgilchin and "Dyngyldai"

Chirgilchin and their song Dyngyldai are today's random tune. Chirchilchin is a group performing traditional Tuvan music. Formed in 1996, Chirgilchin are master throat singers and instrumentalists, and have as members multiple winners of throat singing competitions and music awards, who have made a name for themselves on the strength of their music and on the strength of their international performances and collaborations with other artists. They have collaborated with avante-garde performance artist Laurie Anderson on her album Homeland, and guest performed Puerto Rican singer Residente's song Somos Anormales (warning, video is explicit) in 2017, which may have made them one of the most unlikely groups to win a Latin Grammy. You can find Dyngyldai on their 1999 album Aryskan's Wind. The song says "I will mount the horse of the heavenly color to get to my beloved man."

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirgilchin

Mongol Pride: Various Artists and "Khamag Mongol"

Today's song is a little bit on the interesting side. Khamag Mongol, our random song, is performed by singers from different regions that consider themselves of Mongolian descent and who came together to do this song. The song celebrates Mongolian culture and unity. At least that's how I imagine it and I'm probably not that far off. Wikipedia defines Khamag Mongol as a 12th century tribal confederation that preceded the Mongol Empire But that's where my knowledge ends. I don't know who the singers are, nor do I know what the lyrics say. All I know is that the costumes are cool, the landscape of Mongolia starkly beautiful, and the sentiment seems real. I can't tell you where to find a recorded copy of Khamag Mongol, so you'll just have to enjoy this video.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Music Cures Crazy: Anda Union and "Boomborai"

A group from China sings and plays today's random tune, called Boomborai. Anda Union is reviving a music that had almost been forgotten in China by combining traditional tunes and styles from both Inner and Outer Mongolia and creating an innovative new kind of music. They combine music from all the tribes that Genghis Khan united, and as music gatherers they dig deep into Mongolian history, folklore and traditions. Their goal is to re-engage young Mongols with their culture and language. You can find Boomborai on their 2011 album The Wind Horse. The song is a story about a miracle cure of a young woman who had lost her mind. Her father was taking her to see the shaman when his cart broke down, and he began to sing a song of sorrow while walking around the cart. The villagers joined in, and at that point the young woman quietly got up and began to sing and dance with them, apparently cured.

Sounds Out of Time: Namgar and "Khadadaa"

From the borderlands that define Russia, Mongolia and China comes today's random tune, Khadadaa by Namgar. Namgar is a four piece band that performs traditional Buryat and Mongolian music. Now making its base in Moscow and led by singer Namgar Lhasaranova, the group has made a name for itself by performing Mongolian songs that have not been played since the 17th century, and Buryat songs that predate the 20th century. Since the late 2000s they have expanded their repertoire to also include pop and ethno-rock, and lately with a new lineup that includes some Sami and Scandinavian musicians they have renamed themselves Nordic Namgar. I believe that Khadadaa can be found on their 2004 CD Hatar, though the name of the song is missing the "K." It can also be found on the 2014 compilation CD globalfFest Selector.

Yes We Khan: Various Artists and "Khamag Mongol"

So, I don't really know how to explain this song. Actually I do, sort of. Singers from different regions that consider themselves of Mongolian descent came together to do this song, Khamag Mongol, that celebrates Mongolian culture and unity. At least that's how I imagine it and I'm probably not that far off. Wikipedia defines Khamag Mongol as a 12th century tribal confederation that preceded the Mongol Empire But that's where my knowledge ends. I don't know who the singers are, nor do I know what the lyrics say. All I know is that the costumes are cool, the landscape of Mongolia starkly beautiful, and the sentiment seems real. I can't tell you where to find a recorded copy of Khamag Mongol, so you'll just have to enjoy this video.

Gimme Some Shuga: Olchey and "Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor)"

The random tune for today may bring back memories of the Cold War and communism. The song is called Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor). However, this is not just some old era Soviet propaganda band. The group that sings the song, Olchey, is an attempt to explore the similarities between the Asian and European ethnic music in Russia. Part of the band comes from the Karelian region, which is in Northwest Russia near Finland and Estonia. The other part of the group comes from Tuva, which is in south central Russia near Mongolia and whose people have ethnic and cultural ties to the Mongolian people. Olchey was conceived by actor and musician George Beletsky as a way to find intercultural communication through traditional wisdom as translated into modern times. The band, originally all Tuvan, achieved this synthesis when two members of the Karelian band Va-ta-ga joined Olchey. Olchey began creating a new sound with the combination of these two traditions. The result was the 2010 CD Shuga, the name of which means the fragile layer of ice at the water's edge in Karelia and "thin" in Tuvan. Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor) can be found as the fourth track on Shuga, and features lots of Tuvan throat singing to a funky yet ethnic beat.

What's Your Sign?: Sa Dingding and "Capricorn"

What's your sign? That phrase is often satirized as a pickup line. I never felt comfortable with my sign. I'm a Capricorn, and I was always bored by my horoscope. Whenever I read my horoscope, and got to Capricorn, it always seemed that a Capricorn was the most boring person on earth! It seemed like all we were interested in was business. While it seemed like all the other signs were getting their groove on, finding love and getting involved in intrigue, all the Caps were interested in was the stock market, or the financial pages. I concluded that if I was a Capricorn, I was a very unlikely one. The only horoscope page I could read about Capricorns was Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology, which seemed a little more...I don't know...open and esoteric about astrological signs.

Sa Dingding makes you feel anything but businesslike. Beautiful and with a haunting voice, and appearing in a gorgeous video, it makes one feel like being Capricorn is sexy and exotic. A singer-songwriter of mixed Chinese Han and Mongolian ancestry, she was influenced early in her life by the folk music of the ethnic minorities of Mongolia and China, and she became interested in Buddhism and learned to speak many languages, including Mandarin, Sanskrit and Tibetan. She also created her own language to bring out her songs' emotions. Dingding released her first album at 18, and in 2008 she won the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for the Asia-Pacific region. That award gave her the chance to perform for a western audience for the first time. She co-wrote a song in 2008 with Eric Moquet of Deep Forest to raise funds for the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake relief, and she has recently performed at WOMAD and at the UK's Harrogate Festival. She has also announced plans for a European tour. Capricorn can be found on her 2012 CD The Coming Ones.