Abandoned: Beth Patterson and "The Lass of Aughrim"

Beth Patterson brings us today's random tune, The Lass of Aughrim. From Lafayette, Louisiana, Beth Patterson is a singer-songwriter who starts from a base of Irish and Celtic music and adds a few drops of Cajun, worldbeat and progressive rock. She began her career playing Cajun bass and as a classical oboist, and studied traditional Irish music and ethnomusicology at University College Cork in Ireland. She finished a bachelor's degree in music therapy at Loyola University in New Orleans, and she took up the Irish bouzouki which is now her preferred instrument. She was a founding member of the Poor Clares, an Irish ensemble that opened to rave reviews in New Orleans, and she has also released four solo albums and two with the Poor Clares. You can find The Lass of Aughrim on her 1999 album Hybrid Vigor.

Stellar: A Moving Sound and "Interplanetary Heart"

A Moving Sound performs today's random tune, called Interplanetary Heart. A Moving Sound is a Taiwanese music group formed in 2000 when vocalist Mia Hsieh met guitarist Scott Prairie. The group writes original compositions based on Taiwanese, Chinese and other Asian traditional music and using traditional instrumentation such as the erhu (Chinese fiddle), the zhong ruan (lute) and traditional dance and vocalization. They have served as a gateway into a genre called Pan-Asian music which the magazine Global Rhythm described as being delicately balanced between worlds. They have released four albums. Interplanetary Heart can be found on their 2006 release Songs Beyond Words. I normally don't post video filmed on phones, but this has good sound, if a little bit wobbly camera work.

Desert Dreaming: The Afro Celt Sound System and "Mojave"

Today's random tune is by the Afro Celt Sound System, which is a world group mixing African and Celtic sounds and which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African songs. The Afro Celt Sound System was formed by British producer Simon Emmerson and afro-pop star Baaba Maal in 1991. Since then they've been proclaimed a world music supergroup, and have collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Plant, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ayub Ogada and many other pop and world stars. This song, Mojave, can be found on their 1999 release Volume 5: Anatomic.

Django Gipsy: Biréli Lagrène and "Coquette"

The random song for today is by Biréli Lagrène and is called Coquette. Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist and bassist born into a traditional Manouche-Romani (Gypsy) family. He is known for his Django Reinhardt style of jazz guitar and for virtuosity in jazz fusion on the electric guitar. He was considered a child prodigy when at 8 he could play the entire Django Reinhardt repertoire. After winning first place in a Romani music festival at 12, he was given the opportunity to tour Germany, out of which was recorded an LP. In the 1980s, he was offered the opportunity to go to the United States, where he met such musical luminaries as Stéphane Grappelli, Benny Goodman and Benny Carter. Coquette is in the style of more traditional jazz guitar, and can be found on his album Gipsy Project (2001).

Slovak Fusion: Andrej Šeban and "Pomaly si Navykáme"

Today's random song is by Andrej Šeban, a Slovakian jazz fusion guitarist, in 1977, after taking classical guitar lessons, he became a member of the pop band Nervy, and then the jazz rock band Miting in 1978-79. He played in a variety of bands after that, such as Demikát, Banket, Tutu, Provisorium and the Lipa-Seban Band. He was also on the faculty of Comenius University in the musicology department. This song, Pomaly si Navykáme, can be found on his 2006 album Bezvetrie.

Sleep with the Seals: The Secret of Roan Inish Soundtrack 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).

Lead into Gold: The Prodigals and "Alchemy"

Today's random song is by the Prodigals, an American punk band begun in 1997. The band describes their music as jig-punk and can be classified with other Irish music influenced punk bands such as The Pogues and Black 47 in their merging of traditional Celtic melodies with rock rhythms. The band's melodies are carried by a button key accordion with bass and drum underneath. This song, Alchemy, can be found on their 1999 album Go On.