Not To Put a Pall on Things: Ravi Shankar and "Death"

Today's random tune is a macabre one. By Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, the song Death is part of a suite of songs called Transmigration Macabre which is a soundtrack that he composed for a British art film called Viola, in which a man is convinced that his dead wife has come back as a cat that pursues him. A Bengali Indian musician and composer, Shankar is best known for his influences on American and British rock music, particularly that of George Harrison. However, his compositions were in Hindustani classical forms, and his sitar playing style was unique from that of his contemporaries, giving him a distinct sound. You can find Death on the 1967 album Transmigration Macabre (Original Soundtrack from the Film Viola), which was re-released in 2013.

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.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Shankar; https://www.youtube.com/embed/uhooJxw7PYM

The Stars Look Very Different Today: Seu Jorge and "Rebel Rebel" (In Honor of David Bowie)

As you probably heard, David Bowie passed away yesterday and tributes to his musicianship and legacy have been all over Facebook feeds and the wider media. We don't have much to add. I (Mike) was a latecomer to Bowie's music, but as a friend of ours, Sanford Allen, put it in a short but poignant Facebook post, one had to appreciate the restlessness that led Bowie to constantly reinvent himself and his music, which I agree is the way that life should be lived. For musicians, a heartfelt cover of your music is a sincere form of flattery, so, we are posting this beautiful cover of Rebel Rebel by Brazilian artist Seu Jorge.