You've Been Served: Old Blind Dogs and "The Branle"

Old Blind Dogs bring us today's tune, called The Branle. Old Blind Dogs are a Scottish band which plays traditional Scottish and Celtic music with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music. They are known for performing songs unique to northeast Scotland and singing in the unique Doric dialect of the Aberdeen area. The Branle can be found on their 1999 album The World's Room, and on their 2007 album Four on the Floor (as Branle). The title of the tune refers to a dance of French origin that was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

Funky Korea: SsingSsing and "Cheongchunga"

Today's random song, Cheongchunga, is by South Korean band SsingSsing. Formed in 2010, SsingSsing combines glam rock, disco and psychedelic rock with Korean folk music. They are also known for their extravagant stage visuals and performances, which include dressing up in drag to, in Korean tradition, allow for the channeling of both male and female spirits. The group draws from traditional music of Seoul, called Gyeonggi Sori, and North Korean traditional music called Seodo Sori, the shamanistic-ritual based Seoul Gut, and rock based on Minyo styles that call attention to peasant lives. The band has been praised for bringing Korean music other than K-pop to the attention of global audiences. In fact, they performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert in 2017. You can find Cheongchunga on their self-titled EP (2017).

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/SsingSsing

The Sound of Mali: Ali Farka Touré and "Karaw"

Today's random tune is by the great Malian guitarist and singer Ali Farka Touré. Ali Farka Touré was a Malian singer, multi-instrumentalist and one of the most renowned African musicians. His music fits right into the intersection of traditional Malian music and North American blues. Known as the "African John Lee Hooker," he sang in several African languages, and was once ranked by a panel of critics for Rolling Stone magazine at number 76 of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and was ranked by Spin Magazine in 2012 as number 37 on the 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time. In 2004, he became mayor of a small town and spent his own money on improving infrastructure. He died in 2006 of bone cancer. This song, Karaw, can be found on his 1992 album The Source.

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/Ali_Farka_Tour%C3%A9

Good Looking Laborer: Eliza Carthy and "Pretty Ploughboy"

Eliza Carthy brings us today's random tune, called Pretty Ploughboy. Known for her singing and fiddle playing, Eliza Carthy comes from a musical heritage as the daughter of folk musicians Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. At the age of thirteen, she formed The Waterdaughters with her mother, aunt Lal Waterson and cousin Marry Waterson. She was part of the group Waterson-Carthy with her parents, worked with Nancy Kerr, and was in the "supergroup" Blue Murder. For her contributions to English folk music, she named to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2014. She has put out twelve solo albums, in addition to three with Nancy Kerr, and fourteen with Waterson-Carthy. Pretty Ploughboy can be found on her 2002 album Anglicana, and was nominated for a BBC Radio 3 Folk Award in 2003, the year in which she won BBC Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year, Best Album (for Anglicana) and Best Traditional Song (for Worcester City, another song on the Anglicana album). In fact, she was the first person to be nominated for both BBC Radio 2's Folk Award and BBC 3's Award for World Music in the same year.

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/Eliza_Carthy

Stomp on the Devil: Lazarus Cigwandali and "Timponde Satana"

Today's random tune is by Malawian albino singer and guitarist Lazarus Chigwandali. The subject of a recent documentary produced by Madonna, Lazarus was discovered playing on the streets of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, where he was in constant danger due to his condition. A common belief is that the body parts of people with albinism can bring wealth or good luck, and albinos are frequently abducted, murdered and mutilated in that region of Africa. Rape is another danger, because a myth states that having sex with an albino can cure someone of HIV. Along with that, albinos are shunned and Lazarus grew up suffering the violence that can occur to a person with albinism. But he found solace in church and music, and he wrote songs with his younger brother, Peter, while playing a makeshift guitar, which led their village to embrace them where they had once been shunned. Tragically, Peter died of a malignant skin cancer, and Lazarus moved to the capital where he lived a hard lifestyle busking. A tourist happened to catch him on camera playing on the street, and a video of his performance made it to Swedish born, London based musician Johan Hugo, who was impressed with Lazarus' "punk rock version of traditional music." He arranged to record Lazarus, but a few days before the session, Lazarus disappeared. He had gone to his home village because he became convinced it was an elaborate kidnapping scheme. However, once Hugo and his associates managed to convince Lazarus all was on the up and up, and Lazarus said the recording was the biggest moment for him and his family, conferring respect and admiration upon them. Where before, Lazarus said he wanted to jump in front of a car and end his existence, he is now able to use his music to dismantle cultural stereotypes and promote the cause of people with albinism. This song, Timponde Satana, is the song that was recorded on the street and brought him to such attention. It is a song of hope and survival, and can be found on Lazarus' debut EP of the same name (2019).

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/Lazarus_Chigwandali; https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48021425

Punctuating Their Music: The Semi-Colon and "Ebenebe"

Other than finding out from little tidbits on the internet that The Semi-Colon, the artists performing today's random tune, were a 70s era Nigerian band that served as a counterpoint to the great Fela Kuti's psychedelic Afro-funk, I couldn't find much more on them. They have apparently released six albums, the last in 1986. So today I'll simply let you enjoy this upbeat tune, called Ebenebe. Ebenebe can be found on The Semi-Colon's 1976 album Ndia Egbuo Ndia (Afro Jigida), 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.

Source: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90848307

Here's the Heart: Söndörgö and "Evo Srcu"

Today's random tune is performed by the group Söndörgö from Hungary. Concentrating on South Slav music to preserve the musical traditions of Serbs and Croats along Hungary's southern border, they perform as a traditional tambura band supplemented with accordion, flute and percussion and have been making waves in the global music scene with their renditions of music that inspired classical composers such as Bartok. Founded in 1995, they are different from usual Slavic oriented bands in that they don't use brass. They have played many major festivals (including Albuquerque's own Globalquerque) and have released five albums to date. This song, Evo Srcu, is from their 2014 album Tamburocket: Hungarian Fireworks, and refers to a Chinese pipe used in the song.

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: http://www.sondorgo.hu/SoNDoRGo/Home.html