A Truth Self Evident: Maher Zain and "Freedom (Acoustic Version)"

Today's random tune is by Maher Zain, a 34 year old Swedish-Muslim R&B singer of Lebanese origin whose Wikipedia page claims that he has more Facebook fans than any other Muslim musician. His family emigrated to Sweden when he was eight and studied aeronautical engineering in college. He started his music career when he teamed up with Moroccan-Swedish producer RedOne and followed him to New York where he produced US artists such as Kat DeLuna. He eventually returned home to Sweden and re-engaged with his Islamic faith, which led him to move out of producing and into a career as a singer/songwriter of R&B songs with a strong Muslim/religious theme. He sings mainly in English, but has also released some of his most popular songs in other languages. He maintains a strong following in Malaysia and Indonesia. This song, Freedom (Acoustic Version), is a single that he released in 2011.

Something to Fight For: Yothu Yindi and "Freedom"

Today's song is an homage to freedom by Australian group Yothu Yindi. Yothu Yindi is made up of aboriginal and non-aboriginal members formed in 1986. Their name means "child and mother" in Yolngu, the language of the Yolngu tribe of which the aboriginal members of Yothu Yindi belong. The band uses aspects of both Yolngu and non-aboriginal musical cultures, playing songs that vary from traditional aboriginal tunes to modern pop and rock, and they also blend modern and traditional instrumentation. They also incorporate traditional dance in their stage show. Through their music they have attempted to promote mutual respect and understanding, and they helped establish a foundation to promote Yolngu cultural development. The band's later years has been marked by tragedy - their lead singer died in 2013 of renal failure. This song, Freedom, can be found on their 2011 CD Freedom.

Did You Miss Our Show? Hear It On the KUNM Two-Week Archive!

We had an event-filled show last night! Megan put together a set exploring freedom, and we also played some of the newest world and global releases. We had a little glitch with a defective CD and some defective cords, but otherwise all was good!

If you wish to hear the show, please catch it on the KUNM Two-Week Archive. Just enter July 7, 2014 at 10 pm and let the player do its thing.

If you want to see the show's playlist, you can find it here.

Free Tibet: Techung and Rang zen-Independence

When I was in college, I first started seeing the Free Tibet slogans and the Tibetan flag (a sun rising over a mountain peak). Over the years I have loosely followed the Tibetan story, which mostly gets retold in our country when the Dalai Lama comes to America or something happens to Tibet. The history, as I understand it, is that for centuries Tibet was a proud, independent nation governed on the principles of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 1950s, the Chinese made good on their longstanding claim to Tibet and invaded, turning Tibet into a Chinese province. They attempted to usurp the selection process of the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, by proposing their own candidate. This caused the young Dalai Lama (who is believed to be the same spiritual being reincarnated into different bodies throughout history) to flee to India. Today he lives in exile with other exiled Tibetans, while China slowly tries to assimilate Tibet into the rest of China with varying degrees of success.

There are a number of good documentaries about the Dalai Lama and his journey, and others about the Tibetan situation. I have an interesting story about Tibet: my wife's sister-in-law snuck into Tibet in the 70s on a rope bridge across a deep chasm and spent a little bit of time there (the area is generally not open to foreigners without a permit and there was a time when it was not open to Westerners at all).

The music selection for today is by Tibetan artist who goes by the nickname of Techung when he plays music solo, and as Tashi Dhondup Sharzur at other times. He is a second generation Tibetan exile born in Tibet but raised in Dharamsala, India. As an adult he splits his time between Dharamsala and San Francisco. He studied Tibetan music, dance and opera extensively as a child at the Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts, and has become one of the key keepers of Tibetan musical and performing arts traditions. He founded the San Francisco-based Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera Company in 1989, and is known for his collaborative work that explores his own musical heritage and that of other world music traditions. His latest album, Techung-Tibet-Lam La Che: On The Road (2013) features collaborative work with Keb' Mo'.

This song, Rang zen-Independence, is from his 2004 album A Compilation of Tibetan Folk and Freedom Songs.