A Good Joik for You: Adjagas and "Hás It!"

Today's random tune is a joik. Really. Called Hás It!, it is performed by the Norwegian Sámi group Adjagas. Joiks are highly spiritual songs that may have few or no lyrics, do not rhyme and do not have a definite structure. Subjects can range in topic but are usually about something important to the individual singer. They can also be highly personal - in the north of Scandinavia individuals are often given their own personal joik at birth. The songs are often accompanied by the reedpipe known as the fadno, the Sami drum, and sometimes the bagpipes called the sak-pipe and the wal-pipe. One might also see the trumpet-like instrument called a lur, and the zither called a harpu and in the more modern bands, more modern instrumentation. You can find Hás It! on Adjagas' 2009 album Mánu Rávdnji.

A Good Joik: Värttinä and "Raijan Joiku"

Värttinä, a folk group from Finland founded in 1983 by sisters Sari and Mari Kaasinen, provides our random tune for today. In 1983, the sisters formed Värttinä and entered a youth arts contest reading poetry. They made it into the finals that first year, and the next year they switched to music and won the event. They added some male musicians in 1985 and entered the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, becoming known as the group that sings high and loud. In 1987, at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, they were chosen "Ensemble of the Year," and in 1988 they released their first album. In the early 1990s, they moved to Helsinki and began training at the Sibelius Academy and perfecting their skills. The band first performed traditional Finnish folk songs, but in the mid-1990s began playing its own original compositions. Over the years the band has had many forms and lineup changes, and is currently made up of three female vocalists and three acoustic musicians. They have performed worldwide to international acclaim and have released 16 albums, including 3 compilation albums and one live CD. You can find this song, Raijan Joiku, on Värttinä's 2016 album Viena. A joik is a type of personal or spiritual chant associated with the Sami peoples of the Nordic countries.

Usually When I Have to Go: Adjágas and "Hás It!"

Adjágas, from Norway, bring the random tune for today...Hás It! The band is made up of joikers Lawra Somby and Sara Marielle Gaup along with other musicians (joiks are highly spiritual song with no rhyming or structure that are common in the Sami cultures of northern Scandinavia). "Adjágas" itself is a Sami word for the state between waking and sleeping. Hás It! can be found on their album Mánu Rávdnji, released in 2009.