A Beautiful Name: The Secret of Roan Inish and "Fiona"

A movie about selkies in Ireland provides today's random tune. The Secret of Roan Inish centers on the tale of selkies - seals that can shed their skin to become human in appearance. The music for the film was written and arranged by Mason Daring, an American composer and musician who is largely known for his scores to films by John Sayles. This song, Fiona, can be found on The Secret of Roan Inish soundtrack (1995), and is the theme song of the young heroine of the story.

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/Mason_Daring; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Roan_Inish

It Won't Put You To Sleep: The Secret of Roan Inish and "Piper's Lullaby"

The soundtrack from a movie set in Ireland is on tap for today's random tune. The Secret of Roan Inish centers on the tale of selkies - seals that can shed their skin to become human in appearance. The music for the film was written and arranged by Mason Daring, an American composer and musician who is largely known for his scores to films by John Sayles. This song, Piper's Lullaby, can be found on The Secret of Roan Inish soundtrack (1995).

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/Mason_Daring; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Roan_Inish

Let's All Go to the Lobby: Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble with "Intermission"

Today's song comes from an animated movie called Sita Sings the Blues, which was written, drawn produced and directed by Nina Paley. The film juxtaposes in parallel the plot of the story of Rama and Sita in the Ramayana with Paley's own marriage and relationship. The film has garnered some controversy among some Hindu believers because of its unorthodox portrayal of Rama. This song, Intermission, was written and performed by Nik Phelps and The Sprocket Ensemble. Phelps is a wind instrument performance specialist who has made a career in film composition. He has recorded with musicians such as Tom Waits, and has appeared with Frank Zappa and Tony Bennett. The video shows the various characters, including Rama, Sita, Ravan and Hanuman, heading to the lobby for snacks. If you are interested in the Sita Sings the Blues, which uses music from old Annette Hanshaw recordings as well as original music, you can download it for free at Paley's website.

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/Sita_Sings_the_Blues; http://niksprocket.org/bio_08.html

An Ancient City: Amine Bouhafa and Fatoumata Diawara with "Timbuktu Fasso"

Today's song, Timbuktu Fasso, was written and performed by Amine Bouhafa and Fatoumata Diawara on the soundtrack to the 2014 movie Timbuktu, set during the fundamentalist Islamist takeover of that ancient Malian city. A French-Tunisian composer of film music, Amine Bouhafa began playing piano at the age of three and attended the conservatory in Tunis where he graduated with honors in at the age of twelve. He began composing music for film at the age of 15 and has provided music for short films, television and feature films. Along the way he also has obtained a degree in mathematics and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of California at Riverside. His score for the movie Timbuktu gained him many awards. Fatoumata Diawara is a Malian musician born in the Ivory Coast and currently living in France. She initially moved to France to try acting, but later took up guitar and began composing music that mixed her native Wassalou music of southern Mali with international influences. She has appeared in eight films and has released one solo album, Fatou, in 2011. She has collaborated with artists such as Bobby Womack, AfroCubism and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Timbuktu Fasso can be found on the Timbuktu Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from 2014.

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://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amine_Bouhafa; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatoumata_Diawara

The Solution to All Problems: Hans Zimmer and "Of Death and Dying"

Of Death and Dying, our random song for the day, comes from the soundtrack of a movie about South Africa. The Power of One, adapted from a novel by Bryce Courtenay, is the story of a young English boy in South Africa and his complicated relationships under apartheid with others in the country, both black and white. German composer and music producer Hans Zimmer composed much of the music for the movie in collaboration with Lebo M., a South African vocalist and composer who arranged and performed music for The Lion King movies and stage productions. Of Death and Dying can be found on The Power of One soundtrack, released in 1992.

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/The_Power_of_One_(film); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Courtenay; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Zimmer

Invented Beauty: Cirque du Soleil and "Gamelan"

Today's random tune is from Cirque du Soleil. Gamelan, along with the entire soundtrack of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas (Bellagio Hotel) water and stage show O, was composed by Canadian Benoit Jutras. Jutras' eclectic music combines worldbeat, classical, rock, trip hop and electronica, and the score of O is no exception, with instrumentation that includes classical Western, erhu (Chinese violin), bagpipes, African guitar, African kora (harp), Colombian guitar, cello, ancient woodwinds and a wide variety of percussion instruments. Gamelan can be found on the soundtrack for O, released in 1998. The song's title refers to a specific type of music from Indonesia, usually played with bronze percussion instruments. Many of Cirque du Soleil's lyrics are often in an invented language.

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/Cirque_du_Soleil; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beno%C3%AEt_Jutras

Incarnations: Kunal Ganjawala and Rattan Mohan Sharma with "O Mohini O Kamini"

A song from an Indian animated film is our random tune for today, called O Mohini O Kamini. The song is from the film Dashavatar, which tells the story of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the dashavatara, who exist to triumph over evil. Rama and Krishna are two of the most famous incarnations of Vishnu. The song is vocalized by popular Indian playback singer Kunal Ganjawala and classical Indian vocalist Rattan Mohan Sharma, and with music and lyrics by Anand Kurhekar and Sandeep Khare. You can find O Mohini O Kamini on the 2008 soundtrack to Dashavatar.

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/Dashavatara, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunal_Ganjawala, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattan_Mohan_Sharma

Feel the Power: Teddy Pendergrass and "The Power of One"

Our random song for today is performed by Teddy Pendergrass on the soundtrack to The Power of One, a coming of age movie set in apartheid South Africa based on the novel by Bryce Courtenay. Teddy Pendergrass was a singer, songwriter and composer. After growing up in Philadelphia, where he lost his father to a murder as a young boy and where he became a minister at age 10, Pendergrass rose to fame in the early 70s as the lead singer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. He went solo in 1977 and had multiple hits in both the disco and R&B category on his debut album. As his fame grew, especially among women, he pioneered the "women-only concerts" concept. He was informally titled The Black Elvis and his popularity briefly eclipsed Barry White and Marvin Gaye. A car accident in 1982 left him paralyzed from the chest down, but he made a triumphant and emotional return to music in 1985. He died in 2010 of respiratory failure after having complications from a surgery for colon cancer. You can find this song, The Power of One, on the soundtrack for the movie released in 1992.

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/Teddy_Pendergrass

Preaching by the Choir: The Bulawayo Church Choir and "Wangal' Unozipho"

Wangal' Unozipho, our random tune for today, is performed by the The Bulawayo Church Choir. The song was part of The Power of One movie soundtrack. There is not much information on the group other than that they are from South Africa. We saw the movie many years ago. The Power of One is based on a novel by Bryce Courtenay and is the story of a young English boy in South Africa and his complicated relationships under apartheid with others in the country, both black and white. The Power of One soundtrack was released in 1992.

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.

Pure Grief: Capercaillie and "Ailein Duinn (Dark Alan)"

Capercaille tones down our random tune for today with a moody piece called Ailein Duinn (Dark Alan). Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band formed in the 1980s. They are named after the Scottish wood grouse. They perform traditional Gaelic songs along with songs in English of their own composition or by others, and often mix traditional songs with modern recording techniques, rhythms and instrumentation. At first sticking fairly closely to traditional styles and instrumentation, in the 1980s they added funk bass lines, synthesizers and electric guitar to traditional songs. In 1992, their EP A Prince Among Islands was the first Gaelic language record to reach the top 40 of the UK singles charts They have since been moving back toward more traditional music while retaining a slight fusion sound. Ailein Duinn can be found on their 2005 best hits album called Dusk Till Dawn: The Best of Capercaillie, and another best of album, Grace and Pride: The Anthology 2004-1984 (2004). As far as we can tell, it was released originally in 1995 on their To the Moon album, but it was also released in 2017 on Capercaillie's re-recorded songs that appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Rob Roy. Ailein Duinn is a traditional lament, written for female voice by Annie Campbell for her lost love Alan Morrison, a sea captain who was lost at sea shortly before they were to be married. Campbell composed the lament and then apparently committed suicide - her body washed ashore near where Morrison's was found.

Wearing a Medieval Hoodie: Clannad and "Robin (The Hooded Man)"

Today's random tune is from the soundtrack to a British TV series called Robin of Sherwood. The music to this series was provided by Clannad, an Irish band whose music draws from Celtic, traditional Irish, new age, folk and folk rock. The band was formed, according to local story, when Ciarán, Pól, and Máire Brennan were performing late at night in their uncle's pub and a police sergeant walked in - they feared a summons but instead he had a form to participate in a music contest. After winning a local folk festival, they scored a record contract. Subsequent years saw them shooting to fame, providing music for television and film and collaborating with superstars such as Bono. They are considered pioneers in the fusion of Celtic and new age music, creating an earthly yet spiritual sound. This song, Robin (the Hooded Man), is from their 1984 album Legend, which is all of the music from the British TV series Robin of Sherwood.

Coming Back to Life: Rahul Saxena, Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Sunidhi Chauhan, and Udit Narayan with "Deewangi Deewangi"

Our random tune for today, Deewangi Deewangi, is from the soundtrack to the Bollywood production Om Shanti Omhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_Shanti_Om, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone with the playback singing by Rahul Saxena, Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Sunidhi Chauhan and Udit Narayan. Actually, in this video of the song from the movie, over 30 current Indian Hindi film stars make cameos and perform with the main stars. The movie is a supernatural romantic film set in Bollywood in the 1970s and in the 2000s. Whenever I (Mike) see a Bollywood video like this, I often wish my life were like a Bollywood musical - beautiful women and handsome men, tragedy and comedy, all mixed with great production numbers. You can find Deewangi Deewangi on the Om Shanti Om soundtrack (2008).

Rags to Riches: A.R. Rahman et.al. and "Jai Ho"

A hit movie set in India gives us the random song today, which you've probably heard many times. Jai Ho is from the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Academy Awards in 2008. The song is composed by A.R. Rahman and vocalized by Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalakshmi Iyer and Vijay Prakash. A.R. Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician whose work is known for its integration of Eastern classical music and electronica, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. Sukhwinder Singh is an award winning Indian Bollywood playback singer, as is Tanvi Shah - she sings in multiple languages and is a frequent collaborator with Rahman. Mahalakshmi Iyer is also a playback singer with a repertoire in multiple Indian languages. Vijay Prakash is also a playback singer responsible for the numerous high pitches in Jai Ho. You can find Jai Ho on the soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire, released in 2008 and re-released for download in 2013.

I've Got the Power: Teddy Pendergrass and "The Power of One"

Teddy Pendergrass performs our random song for today from the soundtrack to The Power of One, a coming of age movie set in apartheid South Africa based on the novel by Bryce Courtenay. Teddy Pendergrass was a singer, songwriter and composer. After growing up in Philadelphia, where he lost his father to a murder as a young boy and where he became a minister at age 10, Pendergrass rose to fame in the early 70s as the lead singer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. He went solo in 1977 and had multiple hits in both the disco and R&B category on his debut album. As his fame grew, especially among women, he pioneered the "women-only concerts" concept. He was informally titled The Black Elvis and his popularity briefly eclipsed Barry White and Marvin Gaye. A car accident in 1982 left him paralyzed from the chest down, but he made a triumphant and emotional return to music in 1985. He died in 2010 of respiratory failure after having complications from a surgery for colon cancer. You can find this song, The Power of One, on the soundtrack for the movie released in 1992.

Where is Thy Sting: The Power of One Soundtrack and "Of Death and Dying"

Of Death and Dying, our random song for the day, comes from the soundtrack of a movie about South Africa. The Power of One, adapted from a novel by Bryce Courtenay, is the story of a young English boy in South Africa and his complicated relationships under apartheid with others in the country, both black and white. German composer and music producer Hans Zimmer composed much of the music for the movie in collaboration with Lebo M., a South African vocalist and composer who arranged and performed music for The Lion King movies and stage productions. Of Death and Dying can be found on The Power of One soundtrack, released in 1992.

Gettin' Hitched: The Wedding Sound System and "Wedding Song"

Off to Turkey for today's random song. I don't know much about this band nor this song. The context that might explain it is the movie that it's in - Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul. But I haven't seen that movie either. It has a cool soundtrack which was released in 2006, and this song, Wedding Song by The Wedding Sound System, is on it.

Reliance: A.R. Rahman and Chinmayee with "Tere Bina"

Back to India today for the random song. Sung by A.R. Rahman and Chinmayee, "Tere Bina" is from the soundtrack to the 2007 Indian movie Guru which is loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries. A.R. Rahman is an Indian musician, composer, singer-songwriter, producer and philanthropist. Noted for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements, he made Time Magazine's list of the world's most influential people. Among his many awards are two Oscars and two Grammy's. He is best known in the US for his soundtrack to the hit film Slumdog Millionaire. Chinmayee (also known as Chinmayi) is a Indian playback singer, voice actor, television presenter and radio disc jockey. Tere Bina can be found on the soundtrack for Guru (2006) and on the 2009 compilation Putumayo Presents: India. The video plays the song over scenes from the movie.

Still Looking for the Perfect Man: Nitya Vidyasagar and Rohan Sukhdeo with "Rama's Great"

What is the experience of the wife married to the perfect man? Today's song is from a soundtrack to a movie that explores that question. Nitya Vidyasagar and Rohan Sukhdeo perform Rama's Great in the animated movie Sita Sings the Blues, which tells the life story of Sita in the classic Hindu text The Ramayana and does it from her perspective. Made by animator Nina Paley and employing different animation techniques, the movie was Paley's effort to put into perspective the end of her long relationship. Sita eventually becomes powerful in her own right. Sita Sings the Blues is available for free download on the internet. It's a good watch!

She Gave Birth to Us All: The Power of One Soundtrack and "Mother Africa"

The song for today comes from the soundtrack of a movie about South Africa. The Power of One, adapted from a novel by Bryce Courtenay, is the story of a young English boy in South Africa and his complicated relationships under apartheid with others in the country, both black and white. German composer and music producer Hans Zimmer composed much of the music for the movie in collaboration with Lebo M, a South African vocalist and composer who arranged and performed music for The Lion King movies and stage productions. This song, Mother Africa, can be found on The Power of One soundtrack, released in 1992.

The Dry Earth: Cirque du Soleil and "Terre Aride"

The random tune for today comes from Cirque du Soleil. Terre Aride, along with the entire soundtrack of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas (Bellagio Hotel) water and stage show O, was composed by Canadian Benoit Jutras. Jutras' eclectic music combines worldbeat, classical, rock, trip hop and electronica, and the score of O is no exception, with instrumentation that includes classical Western, erhu (Chinese violin), bagpipes, African guitar, African kora (harp), Colombian guitar, cello, ancient woodwinds and a wide variety of percussion instruments. Terre Aride can be found on the soundtrack for O, released in 1998.