Inuit Throat Singing

Working as a hired thug (Stagehand, audio crew, light crew) for the Cleveland Museum of Art's VIVA! & Gala series has distinct advantages. Aside from the excellent occupational experience, I am also privy to witness awesome and unique performances that I otherwise would be totally ignorant to. One such performance took place just last evening.

Tanya Tagaq is a traditional Inuit Throat Singer. Inuit Throat Singers use their voice to mimic the natural world around them. Letting this sink in for a moment it becomes apparent that this can make way for a very dynamic performance. Tanya has done solo performances as well as shared the stage with string quartets and various other troupes.

For her performance here in Cleveland she was accompanied by a drummer and a guitarist. The terms "Drummer" and "Guitarist" are used loosely in this application because neither musician played his instruments in what one would think is a "traditional" role. Indeed. They were armed with a whole bevy of guitar pedals, touch-pad synthesizers, laptops loaded with - from what I was able to glimpse - Sony Acid, small mixers, E-Bows - all kinds of fun toys, thus giving this act a modern kind of pulse which artistically contrasts Tanya's traditional vocals.

This is an interesting clash of styles, unconventional, but what we all heard on stage last night was not so much "music", but more of a sound, a space - a mimicry of some strange and twisted world.

And I loved every second of it. I'm glad I wasn't the one running the sound board because I was able to close my eyes and trip hard to what my ears were telling me. I was captivated, convinced. About a dozen people felt otherwise during the show. Seeing these old farts fumble their way to the aisle and rush to the back doors like some evil was just at their heels gave cause for me to enjoy this performance even more.

Here is a video from one of her more recent performances. The setup last night was slightly different from what you'll see here, and the sound isn't that great, and we're jumping right into the middle of the set (there may be a few uncomfortable moments of adjustment), but this is just a glimpse of... Well, you'll have to find out for yourself.


Tanya Tagaq @ Palac Akropolis

Tanya Tagaq | MySpace Music Videos