Listen to the KUNM Global Music Show tonight, and hang out with us!

That's right, it's the first Monday of the month and time for your favorite hosts to bring you Global Music from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain time. And boy howdy, do we have a show for you! Megan is interviewing an organizer of the OneBeat Albuquerque at the Rail Yards, a world music event that will bring 25 musicians from 17 countries to Albuquerque. We will play some selections from these musicians, as well as listen to some of the newest recently released world selections (including Robert Plant, if you can believe it!). Of course, it will all be sprinkled with the wit and banter of your two hosts, Megan Kamerick and moi. 10 pm - 1 am on KUNM 89.9 FM or at http://www.kunm.org. If you MUST miss it tonight, then catch us on the two-week archive starting tomorrow. But don't miss it!

A Nice Vintage: Ian Oliver feat. Eastenders and "Vino Vino (Lukas Lehrmann remix)"

I love wine...but I can't drink much of it. Well, let me restate that. It's not that I can't, it's that I shouldn't.

That's tough for a native Northern Californian who grew up just north of wine country and who therefore has had ample reason to enjoy a few vintages in his lifetime. But there it is. The problem is not the wine. The problem is that my body has more than two glasses of wine, and then decides it's time to go to sleep. A third glass, especially on a warm afternoon, will put me to complete sleep. This is a problem if I'm at a party. I can ameliorate the effect by sipping the wine but even that works its toll sooner or later.

But here's the thing about wine for me that doesn't work with any other libation: wine (especially red wine) is the only alcoholic drink where at some point I go from completely sober to that delicate balance of feeling completely at peace and good with the world for a few minutes to a half hour. The problem is that either I don't drink anymore and the feeling goes away, or I drink another one and tip the balance into sleepy time. That being written, it's that peaceful feeling I crave. A good glass of wine with friends in a relaxed atmosphere is the perfect tonic for pretty much everything. A glass of wine on my front porch as the late afternoon sun provides its gentle warmth is an experience I can have over and over again. It's a good thing that I can always revisit that feeling for the rest of the time I'm on this earth. And occasionally, I know that I will end up sleeping away the rest of the evening on a bed because of one glass beyond that perfect balance.

One doesn't necessarily associate the Balkans with fine wine, though recent reports indicate that it's star is rising in the world of appellations, but in terms of vintage brass instrumentation and accordion the Balkans are about as exciting as it gets. And one of the amazing things that has happened has been a cross of the old with the new, almost like a blending of traditional grapes with some new hybrids to create something completely new. In the past decade or so Balkan brass and accordion has become more popular, and with it experimentation in turning these tunes into danceable club music. And to my surprise (though perhaps not the surprise of people who have listened to this music for a while) it works marvelously. There is something about Balkan brass and accordion being sampled and looped, augmented by electronica, and put to a beat that never fails to get the body moving.

To that end, Vino Vino (Lukas Lehrmann remix) is a remix of a Balkan dance tune by Ian Oliver featuring Eastenders, which in itself uses a lot of sampling. Unfortunately, I can't find much information about Ian Oliver or Eastenders (please feel free to comment and provide some information), but this remix is infectious and makes you want to dance! You can find Vino Vino (Lukas Lehrmann remix) on the compilation CD The Balkan Club Night #2, Disc 2 (2011) Enjoy! I've also included the original, below, with the official video so you can compare it with the remix.

Ramblin': Baka Beyond and "Wandering Spirit"

Well, I know that anyone who reads this little blog of random world tunes waits with bated breath every day for my little bon-mots and homespun wisdom. Unfortunately, there are times like yesterday and today when I don't have the luxury and only have the time to bring you the random tune with the meticulously researched background (cough, cough...Wikipedia) of the bands that I write in each post. To those of you who wait for my ramblings, I apologize that I cannot always provide them.

Speaking of ramblings, today's random tune is by one of the more established "world' groups. Baka Beyond, formed in 1992, calls themselves "the original Afro-Celtic dance band," probably to distinguish themselves from the Afro Celt Sound System which formed around the same time. Baka Beyond fuses Celtic and other western styles with the traditional Baka music of Cameroon. It started when vocalist Su Hart and her husband, Martin Cradick (guitar, bazouki and mandolin), went to Cameroon to live with the Baka pygmy tribe to record their music. At first Hart and Cradick worked with English musicians to try to recreate the Baka music sounds and integrate it into their music. However, as the group evolved it began to include more musicians from African countries such as Senegal, Sierra Leone, Congo, Ghana and Cameroon. The group has also kept its relationship with the Baka people, returning regularly to record their music and integrate with the music created by the band. The band donates much of its profits to rainforest preservation and at the request of the Baka tribe, has built a music recording studio in their tribal area and has helped the tribe deal with various social and health issues in their villages. The BBC's Andy Kershaw has said that Baka Beyond's music may be the definition of world music. The group has released 11 albums, including one this year in 2014. This song, Wandering Spirit, can be found on their 2002 CD East to West.

Don't Cheat: Ojos de Brujo and "Quien Engaña no Gana"

Short and sweet today, because I went on a hike and I have to go to an event tonight.

Today's random tune is Quien Engaña no Gana by Ojos de Brujo. The tile means "He who deceives doesn't win." Ojos de Brujo (Eyes of the Sorcerer) was a Spanish group from Barcelona active between 1998 and 2011. Flamenco was a central part of their sound, to which they fused hip hop, rumba, Afro-Cuban, dub and other types of music into a sound they called "flamenkillo." The group also took on social and political issues in Spain, but never directly. For instance, in highlighting poverty they wrote a song which looked through the eyes of a person who woke up hungry every morning. This approach made them popular among Spanish youth. Because their style was not pure flamenco, they came under criticism from flamenco purists but the group responded that they were under no illusion that they were a flamenco band. "...I would say that flamenco is the strongest ingredient, but we don't pretend we are doing flamenco," said one member of the band." Quien Engaña no Gana can be found on their 2005 album Bari, and also on the BBC R 3 Music Awards for World Music compilation album of 2005.

Missing You: Vusi Mahlasela and "Everytime"

Today's random song is about missing someone, and longing for that person. Vusi Mahlasela, from South Africa, sings of a lover or an ex-lover who now walks under "cold, northern skies," contrasting that with the image of his lover walking by a river, under a setting red sun, his lover burning the dusk with beauty.

We long, often for those who are not with us, those who have been taken away from us for one reason or another. Perhaps the separation is necessitated by job and career, or by forces beyond each of our control. Perhaps the separation is not physical but emotional or mental, as for example my mom's dementia sometimes makes her a different person and I long for the one I knew for so many years. Sometimes we mandate the separation because of a dispute or because of another person's troubles that threaten to bring turmoil to our lives, yet we still miss the person amidst the conflict. And we long for a past that we whitewash, forgetting the difficult times so that only the good times remain, and that person walks in beauty and light and all we ever did was laugh and love.

It's human nature to long, and as we move through time to wax melancholic on that which is in the past because it gains a patina that the raw experience of the present just doesn't have. I often look back to the past, even to some times that were personally very hard and full of hurt, and even the bad times don't seem like they were as bad as they actually were. And the good times...the edges blur and they seem even better.

Sometimes called "The Voice of South Africa" for his work in African folk music, Vusi Mahlasela served as an inspiration for the anti-apartheid movement with songs that focused on freedom, forgiveness and reconciliation. He has collaborated with musicians such as Dave Matthews, Josh Groban and Taj Mahal (who produced his latest album), performed at many famous live concert events such as Live 8 and Live Earth, and sang for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration in London. ITV used one of his songs as their theme song for their World Cup coverage in South Africa, and he also performed at the South Africa World Cup kickoff concert. This song, Everytime, is from his 2007 CD Guiding Star - that album garnered him Best Male Artist in the South Africa Music Awards. The video looks like it was shot on cell phone as he performed for a Virginia radio station, but the sound is very good.

Self-Reflection: Ana Tijoux and "1977"

In today's random song, French-Chilean musician Ana Tijoux takes a reminiscent look back at her life and what influenced her in her life's path. We often have to look at those events and occurrences in our lives that may have had a big effect on what we have become to understand why we are the people we are. I have done a lot of this type of reflection out of necessity. I came from a dysfunctional family, and without self-reflection and examination, I would still be flailing about in the shadows of uncertainty and doubt. Luckily, while I sometimes still find myself struggling in the deep end of the pool of life, weighed down by guilt and at times a poor self image, my examination of my life through counseling and therapy, through creative outlets such as writing and music, and through the loving attentions of my wife, close family and friends, I am a better and more self-aware person today than I have ever been in my life. I am also more at peace with myself.

That's the place that I perceive Ana Tijoux is coming from in 1977. The lyrics tell her story in the first person, starting in 1977 in the Year of the Snake. She remarks that she is like an open book to others, but also that there is small text in the margins, that she learns that some people want damage (to self, to others?), and that she learns by watching her father and others and learns both her own competence and impotence. She then tells about her adolescence, framed by her awareness of the military domination of her home country of Chile (her parents were Chilean exiles in France) and how she learned to channel her adolescent anger ("a girl who only sizes swords" and who is "looking pissed") until she found her "first rhyme that sounded and wrapped me up." At least that is what I pick out of the words - there is more that I am still trying to understand in her song but I can hear the self-reflection and, as a critic argued, the maturity in a person who is looking backwards to understand and interpret what is now.

Ana Tijoux is a French-Chilean musician who was indeed born in 1977 in France, just as she raps. She first traveled to Chile in 1983 and moved there for good in 1993. She then became involved in the country's nascent rap and hip hop scene. In the late 1990s she became famous across Latin America as the female MC of the rap group Makiza. After a successful eight years, the group broke up in 2006 over creative differences. Tijoux went solo and began to move away from rap and hip hop and more toward the Chilean pop scene, and did some work in that genre that was well received. In 2009, she returned to her rap roots with her album 1977. Thom Yorke of Radiohead urged his listeners to listen to the title song 1977 and listed Tijoux and the song on a list of artists and songs that were his favorites. 1977 was also featured on the award winnning TV series Breaking Bad in its fourth season.

Sing it Sistah: Robi Kahakalau and " "Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu"

I really feel inadequate to the task of writing about Hawaiian songs or singers, as I have never been to Hawaii. But, a funny thing happened recently. I started cataloging all the world and global music that Megan and I have in our collection. The purpose has been to give us a sense of what we have, and from what countries the music is from, so that we can be better informed when we present our show. The first surprise is how much music we have that classifies as world. So far I'm about half done, and I've already cataloged 2000 songs. That's a lot of music. Of course a lot of that comes from the albums that we have purchased over time, but a lot of it comes from individual songs we've purchased since we joined the rotation of DJs doing the Global Music Show for the purpose of playing them on the show. I like to highlight some new music that has just been released on every show, so that we can keep current and play things that our listeners may have never heard. So, the volume of music we have has been a big surprise.

The second surprise is how much Hawaiian music we have. I know where some of it came from, because I remember buying it. We saw a group called Hapa perform once and bought a couple of CDs. I purchased Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's Somewhere Over the Rainbow because I think it's beautiful and I love the story behind it. Then...there's all the other Hawaiian music we have. Megan says she put some together for a Hawaiian themed party, but I can't think that all the other Hawaiian music we have came from one event. So where did it come from? Did some Hawaiian god decide that we were to be bards and spread the Hawaiian music love around in the deserts of New Mexico? I don't know. All I know is that there seems to be a lot of it hiding amidst the the other nationalities.

Which is why today's random tune came up Hawaiian. Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu is by Robi Kahakalau. Often known as "Sistah Robi," she is considered one of Hawaii's most popular entertainers. Born in Germany, she is considered "Hapa" or half-Hawaiian and moved to the islands in 1980. She knew she had found home. Determined to learn everything she could about Hawaii, within 10 years she was a Hawaiian language instructor at the University of Hawaii and a musician. In 1990 she became the lead singer for the Hawaiian Style Band which first brought her to public attention and inclusion on Hawaiian music compilation albums. She released her first solo album, Sistah Robi, in 1995. She has released at least five albums, and in her songs you may hear French, Tahitian, Hawaiian and English - she's fluent in all of those languages. Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu can be found on her 1995 album Sistah Robi, and on the compilation CD Island Roots (2000).