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This week on Earth Eclectic Radio Hour, host Bart Everson presents “Songs of Venezuela and Greenland,” a musical journey to two nations whose distinctive cultures speak through their unique relationships with land and identity. Our expedition begins in Venezuela with Raul Monsalve y Los Forajidos’ ode to the rising sun, before La Gallera Social Club’s butterfly meditation and Angel Jesús Mavo’s reinterpretation of the unofficial national anthem “Alma Llanera” (Soul of the Plains). The medicine music of Caribano & Samantha Blanco honors “seeds of fire” from the jungle’s ancestral heartbeat, while Milagros Morandi offers a brief reimagining of the classic plains tribute “Sabana.” After pausing to listen to Venezuela’s actual soundscape through field recordings by Contemplando el Cielo, we journey northward to Greenland. Swedish band AFT’s “Greenland / Kalallit Nunaat” introduces us to the indigenous name for this Arctic land, before native Greenlander Rasmus Lyberth delivers a moving “Climate Song” in Kalaallisut. Nanook—perhaps Greenland’s most famous musical export—performs their self-titled climate message, followed by Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children’s contemplative “Human.” VARNA GL’s powerful chant “Kalaallit Nunaat Kalaallit Pigaat” (Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland) carries undeniable cultural assertion, while the sound of waves on Niaqornat’s eastern shore reminds us of the physical reality that shapes these musical traditions. Our journey concludes with Sumé’s “Upernâĸ” (Spring) from 1973—the first rock band to record in Greenland’s indigenous language, representing cultural revival and persistence against all odds.

Our featured photo is a composite which incorporates elements of “La Gran Sabana” by Inti and “Panoramic view from a cliff of the city of Ilulissat Greenland” by Buiobuione, both generously published under Creative Commons licenses. Thank you!