Riding to My Man: Chirgilchin and "Dyngyldai"

Chirgilchin and their song Dyngyldai are today's random tune. Chirchilchin is a group performing traditional Tuvan music. Formed in 1996, Chirgilchin are master throat singers and instrumentalists, and have as members multiple winners of throat singing competitions and music awards, who have made a name for themselves on the strength of their music and on the strength of their international performances and collaborations with other artists. They have collaborated with avante-garde performance artist Laurie Anderson on her album Homeland, and guest performed Puerto Rican singer Residente's song Somos Anormales (warning, video is explicit) in 2017, which may have made them one of the most unlikely groups to win a Latin Grammy. You can find Dyngyldai on their 1999 album Aryskan's Wind. The song says "I will mount the horse of the heavenly color to get to my beloved man."

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/Chirgilchin

Petrivka: Inna Zhelannaya and "Петривка"

It's too bad I couldn't find this on YouTube, but it is a really cool song on Bandcamp too! It is sung by Inna Zhelannaya, a Russian singer-songwriter best known as the frontwoman for the band Farlanders, who were included on a Putumayo World Music compilation CD, toured the US and were part of the 1996 Olympic opening ceremonies. She has also released solo albums starting in 1995, and her solo music has been described as containing elements of jazz, progressive rock, electronic, trance and psychedelia with which she reworks old folk songs, some as old as 1000 years. This song, Петривка, can be found on her 2014 double album titled Изворот (Izvorot). And yes, if you're wondering why the song abruptly ends - it's supposed to.

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/Inna_Zhelannaya

Russian Sleigh Ride: White Fort and "Svyatki!"

We played this song for years before learning that it was actually a holiday song. No matter, we'll play it again out of season because that guitar and violin are so badass. Svyatki! is by Russian duo White Fort, also known as Two Siberians. The do consists of Artyom Yakushenko on electric violin and Yuriy Matveyev on electric guitar. Actual Siberians, they won a festival award in Novasibirsk in 1986 as best new artists, which almost got them expelled from high school. In 1997, they captured the attention of an American producer while playing for vodka shots at a Moscow photography exhibit, who casually mentioned that they should make a recording in the US. He was surprised to get a call from them at JFK airport as they seriously took him up on his offer. No major label was willing to sign them, and they embarked on a club tour of the US and then financed their own CD, engaging a number of major jazz artists on the recording. They broke up in 2009, but reunited onstage in Moscow in 2012. Not long after that performance, their song 6/8 won first place in the instrumental category of the International Songwriting Competition. The win gave them new energy, and they began performing and touring again. Though it is almost impossible to find their original recordings in the United States save their lone US release (Out of Nowhere), they did release two Anglicized versions of their Russian albums Two Kings and 6/8 in the US, and they have recorded songs in Seattle for a coming release to be announced. Svyatki!, a Christmas song, can be found on their 2012 album 6/8.

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/Two_Siberians_(White_Fort);

Giving Them the Bird: Juliana & PAVA with "A Winter Solstice Song I"

Today's very short random song is by Juliana & PAVA, and is called A Winter Solstice Song I (I know, a little out of season but that's what randomness gets you). A vocal ensemble that focuses on Russian traditional and ancient folk songs, Juliana & PAVA was founded in Denmark in 2000 by Juliana Svetlitchnaia. The group moved to the United States in 2005, where they settled in Seattle and formed a revamped ensemble. They have received many awards and accolades, and their music brings one back to a village in traditional Russia and its celebrations such as holidays, weddings and funerals, as well as cyclical rituals of the year like harvest or midsummer. The name PAVA means peacock, a symbolic animal for Russia, and in that spirit the singers wear colorful traditional costumes, some as old as 200 years. You can find A Winter Solstice Song I on Juliana & PAVA's 2010 album Let the Bird Fly.

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.ethnorussia.com/pava.htm

A Right Turn: Inna Zhelannaya and "Изворот"

Russian singer-songwriter Inna Zhelannaya provides our random tune for today, called Изворот (Turn). Inna Zhelannaya is best known as the frontwoman for the band Farlanders, who were included on a Putumayo World Music compilation CD, toured the US and were part of the 1996 Olympic opening ceremonies. She has also released solo albums starting in 1995, and her solo music has been described as containing elements of jazz, progressive rock, electronic, trance and psychedelia with which she reworks old folk songs, some as old as 1000 years. Изворот can be found on her 2014 album of the same name.

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/Inna_Zhelannaya

Mongol Pride: Various Artists and "Khamag Mongol"

Today's song is a little bit on the interesting side. Khamag Mongol, our random song, is performed by singers from different regions that consider themselves of Mongolian descent and who came together to do this song. The song celebrates Mongolian culture and unity. At least that's how I imagine it and I'm probably not that far off. Wikipedia defines Khamag Mongol as a 12th century tribal confederation that preceded the Mongol Empire But that's where my knowledge ends. I don't know who the singers are, nor do I know what the lyrics say. All I know is that the costumes are cool, the landscape of Mongolia starkly beautiful, and the sentiment seems real. I can't tell you where to find a recorded copy of Khamag Mongol, so you'll just have to enjoy this video.

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.

Running Silent and Deep: The Russian Red Army Choir and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"

This random number, It's A Long Way to Tipperary, is the Red Army choir singing an Irish tune which was used in the movie Das Boot. Whether the song was recorded in the 1940s or specifically for the movie I haven't been able to determine. The Red Army Choir, however, has two incarnations.

The first is known officially as the Alexandrov Ensemble and consists of a male choir, an orchestra and a dance ensemble. It was founded in 1928, possibly by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov and encouraged by Stalin, or possibly as a combined effort in which Alexandrov ended up as artistic director. They initially did tours, entertaining the troops in far flung regions of the Soviet Union and mostly performing original Soviet music. In 1948 they performed an unforgettable concert of German and Russian music in Berlin (prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall), and in 1990 they joined Roger Waters' performance of The Wall to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. In December 2016, the Ensemble was hit with tragedy when 64 members, all but three of its choir, perished in the crash of a military airplane carrying them to perform a concert in war-torn Syria.

The second is known as the MVD Ensemble, which was founded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1939 and which was founded to serve and sustain the Soviet state by lifting the morale of troops by glorifying the revolutionary ideal. In the past few decades, it has modernized its repertoire and performed on all continents, and in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi it performed a cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky and released a cover of Pharrell Williams' Happy. It has received a "Star Platinum" on the avenue dedicated to great Russian artists.

Can You Do Both at the Same Time: Talisman and "Waltz-Tango"

A waltz-tango from Russia is our random tune for today, amazingly entitled Waltz-Tango. It is performed by Talisman, a trio of Russian musicians who aim to present music in primarily gypsy styles, with tango, jazz and flamenco thrown in. Oleg Nehls is a classically trained accordionist, Vadim Kulitskii is a renowned guitarist and Oleksandr Klimas plays a very fast violin. You can find Waltz-Tango on their 2010 CD Russian Gypsy Soul - Fiery Gypsy Music at its Best.

Christmas in Siberia: White Fort and "Svyatki"

Well, we are a little early for this song, but so what? It's a pretty good song! Svyatki! is by Russian duo White Fort, also known as Two Siberians. The do consists of Artyom Yakushenko on electric violin and Yuriy Matveyev on electric guitar. Actual Siberians, they won a festival award in Novasibirsk in 1986 as best new artists, which almost got them expelled from high school. In 1997, they captured the attention of an American producer while playing for vodka shots at a Moscow photography exhibit, who casually mentioned that they should make a recording in the US. He was surprised to get a call from them at JFK airport as they seriously took him up on his offer. No major label was willing to sign them, and they embarked on a club tour of the US and then financed their own CD, engaging a number of major jazz artists on the recording. They broke up in 2009, but reunited onstage in Moscow in 2012. Not long after that performance, their song 6/8 won first place in the instrumental category of the International Songwriting Competition. The win gave them new energy, and they began performing and touring again. Though it is almost impossible to find their original recordings in the United States save their lone US release (Out of Nowhere), they did release two Anglicized versions of their Russian albums Two Kings and 6/8 in the US, and they have recorded songs in Seattle for a coming release to be announced. Svyatki!, a Christmas song, can be found on their 2012 album 6/8.

Bernie Sanders' Hero: Olchey and "Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor)"

The random tune for today may bring back memories of the Cold War and communism. The song is called Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor). However, this is not just some old era Soviet propaganda band. The group that sings the song, Olchey, is an attempt to explore the similarities between the Asian and European ethnic music in Russia. Part of the band comes from the Karelian region, which is in Northwest Russia near Finland and Estonia. The other part of the group comes from Tuva, which is in south central Russia near Mongolia and whose people have ethnic and cultural ties to the Mongolian people. Olchey was conceived by actor and musician George Beletsky as a way to find intercultural communication through traditional wisdom as translated into modern times. The band, originally all Tuvan, achieved this synthesis when two members of the Karelian band Va-ta-ga joined Olchey. Olchey began creating a new sound with the combination of these two traditions. The result was the 2010 CD Shuga, the name of which means the fragile layer of ice at the water's edge in Karelia and "thin" in Tuvan. Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor) can be found as the fourth track on Shuga, and features lots of Tuvan throat singing to a funky yet ethnic beat.

Gimme Some Shuga: Olchey and "Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor)"

The random tune for today may bring back memories of the Cold War and communism. The song is called Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor). However, this is not just some old era Soviet propaganda band. The group that sings the song, Olchey, is an attempt to explore the similarities between the Asian and European ethnic music in Russia. Part of the band comes from the Karelian region, which is in Northwest Russia near Finland and Estonia. The other part of the group comes from Tuva, which is in south central Russia near Mongolia and whose people have ethnic and cultural ties to the Mongolian people. Olchey was conceived by actor and musician George Beletsky as a way to find intercultural communication through traditional wisdom as translated into modern times. The band, originally all Tuvan, achieved this synthesis when two members of the Karelian band Va-ta-ga joined Olchey. Olchey began creating a new sound with the combination of these two traditions. The result was the 2010 CD Shuga, the name of which means the fragile layer of ice at the water's edge in Karelia and "thin" in Tuvan. Chavadak (Song of the Hero of Socialist Labor) can be found as the fourth track on Shuga, and features lots of Tuvan throat singing to a funky yet ethnic beat.

A Lozenge: Yat-Kha and "Ahoi"

Hello friends! I'm back from my travels and hopefully will be able to resume my more intensive commenting on the music in the next couple of days. However, you know how it is...having to get back into the work scene after a two-week vacation means that there are many things in my in-box. I hope you'll forgive me if there is just a bare-bones entry today.

Today's random tune is by Yat-Kha, a band from Tuva, an ethnic region in Russia. Begun by Albert Kuvezin and Ivan Sokolovsky, Yat-Kha originally blended traditional Tuvan music with post-modern rhythms and electronica. After the departure of Sokolovsky after the release of their third album in 1993, Yat-Kha began to de-emphasize the electronica and focus on a blend of Tuvan traditional music with rock. This song, Ahoi, is from their 2005 album Bootleg and the 2010 compilation The Ways of the Nomad - The Best of Yat-Kha and features Kuvezin's distinctive throat singing.

Christmas Time All Year: White Fort and "Svyatki!"

It took awhile, but I finally realized that today's random world music song selection was a Christmas/holiday song. You see, not having much of a second language, I often don't know the meaning of the titles of songs that I find. I just listen to the song and if I like it, it gets added to my collection and eventually makes it on to our Global Music Show. I suppose I could have run the title, Svyatki!, through Google Translate, but I often don't think of that.

What I heard when I listened to this song at first was amazing guitar and violin work, a fast tempo, a catchy tune that one would want to dance (fast) to, and man, could these guys play! I don't know about you, but my idea of Christmas music, which has evolved over the past 20 years or so, was still music that had some kind of identifier that it was holiday-oriented. Either a word (which was out because I don't understand Russian) or clues in the music such as bells or choirs. Admittedly, my ideas of Christmas music have changed since I have become a kind of collector of interesting, non-traditional Christmas music but, there was always still that identifier somewhere. But not understanding Russian, all I heard was a really jammin' song that had no connection to the holiday. And I liked it. I played it over and over.

I once lived in a community house in Milwaukee and another resident was an ex-nun who had a few issues and loved Christmas music and would play said Christmas music at all times of the year. We eventually had to make it a rule that she wouldn't play Christmas music except during the holiday season. Well, I felt like I must have seemed a little like her when I found out last year, after a year of listening to Svyatki!, that it was a Christmas song. I could see myself in Russia, telling people in July what a great song this was and playing it over an over while they looked at each other and made the universal symbol of craziness sign by twirling a finger around an ear. And wouldn't you know it, just as I was starting to write this post I had the idea to look up the title in Google Translate and the title is very plainly, translated into English, Christmas Time!

Well, I still like the song. And I still will play it whenever I want because I like it so much. The label doesn't mean anything. I shouldn't have been so judgmental of my ex-nun roommate and her Christmas music love, and it took White Fort to teach me that lesson.

White Fort is a duo from Russia. Consisting of guitarist Yuriy Matveyev and fiddler Artyom Yakushenko, the two met in college and started making music together while procrastinating from their studies. They took a prize for Best New Band at their first national folk festival in Novosibirsk and were put on probation back at school. After 3 studio CDs and a ballet score, they moved to Moscow and were discovered by an American promoter who released an album of their music in the US under the title "Two Siberians." They also continued making albums in Russia, and scored film and television. They suspended their music-making in 2008 to take sabbaticals, but reunited in 2012 and began recording touring again. Svyatki!, is from their 2012 CD 6/8.

Grain for the Harvest: Inna Zhelannaya and "The Wheat"

Here in Albuquerque, in the depths of the summer heat, it's hard to think about fall right now.  Temperatures range into the 90s, and even over 100 F yesterday.  For most of my childhood, my life was spent in three seasons: summer, winter and spring.  My hometown, because it is in a mostly conifer belt, did not have the explosion of fall colors that characterize many of the other regions of the United States.  It wasn't until I moved to the Midwest after college that I saw fall colors in their true glory, and fall remains a spectacular affair that seems all too brief to me.

I also grew up in timber country, not farmland, so the fall harvest of grains was not part of my life.  Yet driving through the fields of the Midwest in the fall, the tall grains like wheat waving in the late fall breezes, shining reddish-golden in the late afternoon sun, is something that I still remember.  There is a calm peacefulness about it, with brief signs of the coming winter as the threshers take the wheat, the leaves begin to turn, and the sun goes down earlier each day.  While I didn't grow up in that type of environment, I can still appreciate it for what it is.

In the same way, I can appreciate Inna Zhelannaya's song The Wheat.  I did not grow up with a lot of electronica in the music that I listened to, but rather was fed on a steady diet of rock and pop.  I am a relative latecomer, in my 40s, to the appreciation of the electronic enhancements that can be applied to music and now at 50 find myself hearing a lot of it on the world music scene.  The Wheat is not an overly electronic song, but instead layers a landscape that befits wheat that is about to harvested, with Zhalannaya's haunting voice overlaying the music like the coming thresher - not grim or even frightening, but inevitable.

Inna Zhelannaya was born in Moscow in 1965 and grew up studying music in school and singing in choir.  After finishing primary school, she attended a music college.  After school, she participated in a number of bands in the 1980s and 90s.  Most notable among these bands was Alliance, which won Radio France International's Best Eastern European album in 1994.  However, soon after Zhelannaya had to leave the band to give birth to a child.  She returned after with a new band called Farlanders, which released three albums.  As of 2013, she has a new band and has released three solo albums.  In her solo work, she reworks old Russian folk songs, some as old as 1000 years, with electronica, trance and progressive rock.  Because of her efforts, and the popularity of her albums, she has been called the "first world music star of Russia."

The Wheat is from Zhelannaya's album Winter, released in 2009, which marked a new direction for Zhelannaya - her voice intricately interacting with electronica and sound design.