In It to Win It: Machel Montano and Skinny Fabulous with "Go Hard"

Machel Montano performs today's random tune, Go Hard, with help from Skinny Fabulous. Machel Montano, from Trinidad, is a soca artist, actor, producer and songwriter who, in 1987, was the youngest finalist ever to win the Caribbean Song Festival in Barbados. He is the frontman for the group HD Family and for the band Xtatik, and has a 30 year career in the music industry which has allowed him to record with many major Caribbean and outside acts such as Wyclef Jean, Calypso Rose, Pitbull, Ariana Grande and Busta Rhymes. He is noted for fast-paced, high energy and unpredictable stage performances, and his high profile has helped spread the popularity of soca music around the world. Skinny Fabulous, from St. Vincent & the Grenadines, is the stage name of soca artist Gamal Doyle. Doyle has developed a style of soca music strongly influenced by dancehall. Originally a chanter, he switched to soca music about a decade ago. In 2008 he won the St. Vincent Soca Monarch title and has won numerous awards since, as well as touring the countries of the region and exciting crowds with his stage performances. Go Hard can be found on Machel Montano's 2016 release Monk Evolution.

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.

Stealing Hearts: Asha Bhosle and "Le Gayi"

A Bollywood legend sings today's song, called Le Gayi from the movie Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). The singer is Asha Bhosle, one of the most famous Indian playback singers of all time. Over her seven decade career, she has sung for over 1000 Bollywood films, though she also has a wider repertoire which include pop, ghazals, bhajans, Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis and Rabinda Sangeets. She herself has estimated that she has sung over 12,000 songs in her lifetime, in over 20 languages, and the Guinness Book of World Records has said that she is the most recorded artist of all time. Interestingly enough, though she has sung for so many movies, she made her acting debut in 2013 in the movie Mai where she gained critical acclaim. The song describes first seeing the person who takes one's heart away. We've included two videos - the first is Asha Bhosle singing the song for a television show.  It is apparently blocked from being shown on Blogger but clicking on the video it will allow you to go to YouTube to see it.  The second is the production number from the movie with an actress lip-syncing to Asha Bhosle.

Get Your Drink On: Boban & Marko Marković Orchestra with "Sljivovica"

Boban Marković is a Serbian Romani trumpet player and brass ensemble leader frequently recognized as the greatest trumpet player to emerge from the Balkans. The Boban Marković Orchestra has been one of the leading Balkan brass bands in Serbia over the last 17 years. They have won several of the most important prizes ("Golden Trumpet", "First Trumpet" and "The Best Orchestra") at the Guča trumpet festival, called "Dragačevski Sabor" which has been held every August in Central Serbia's town of Guča since 1961. Boban Marković's son, Marko, has played with the band since 2002. Marko was said to practice ten hours a day before joining with the band. During the two years he spent touring with the band, Marko became the main soloist and arranger of the renamed Boban & Marko Marković Orchestra at age 17. This song, Sljivovica, can be found on the Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra's 2013 album Gipsy Manifesto. The song celebrates the national drink of Serbia.

And the Lord Did Grin: San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble and "Dixit Dominus"

The San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble (SAVAE) brings us today's random tune, called Dixit Dominus. SAVAE is a unique ancient vocal music ensemble that is accompanied by early and traditional instrumentation. They made their debut in 1989 presenting Latin music from the colonial period. Its artistic director, Christopher Moroney, has penned arrangements and new compositions for the group by delving into ancient history and cultures. The group has been featured on national radio shows and has toured the United States and around the world. Dixit Dominus can be found on their 2004 album El Milagro de Guadalupe.

Eternal Scent: Paul Avgerinos and "Rose of Heaven"

Today's song is Rose of Heaven by Paul Avgerinos. Paul Avgerinos is an American composer, performer and producer whose genres include new age, ambient, space, world, world fusion, electronic and drone. Avgerinos attended Johns Hopkins University's Peabody School of Music where he studied bass violin. His albums are blends of well known and obscure acoustic and electronic instruments. He is known for using Romantic and Impressionist techniques, and he has worked with such artists as Aerosmith, Jewel, Run DMC, Willie Nelson, Deana Carter and The Celtic Tenors. Rose of Heaven is from his 2007 CD Garden of Delight.

No Product Used: Rhiannon Giddens and "Black Is the Color"

Rhiannon Giddens brings us today's random tune, titled Black Is the Color. She is a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and a multi-instrumentalist (violin, banjo) and singer. She began her musical career in folk, competing in Scottish fiddle competitions, attending contra dances and performing as a member of the string band Sanfoka Strings and the traditional group Gaelwynd. Since forming the Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2005, she is currently the only remaining original member still active in the group. In 2013, she embarked on her solo career. In 2015, she released Tomorrow is My Turn, an album with songs originally made famous by artists such as Odetta, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Nina Simone, and Giddens was praised by Wall Street Journal as "a significant talent" by the Wall Street Journal and "one of the bright new lights" by the Los Angeles Times. In 2016, Giddens became the first American honored as Folk Singer of the Year by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Black Is the Color can be found on Giddens 2015 release Tomorrow is My Turn, and is a traditional folk song from Appalachia and is part of a traditional repertory of Celtic music artists but has been sung by artists as varied as Jo Stafford, Nina Simone, and Natacha Atlas.