If you want to sound like Tanya Tagaq, start by sounding like a dog. That's the advice the 2014 Polaris Prize winner has given to people trying their hand at Inuk throat singing, but, of course, there's much more to her music.
"Part of being a quote-unquote modern indigenous musician is that varied influences are naturally a part of my life," she said in an interview with CBC Music. "Throat singing was natural to me, but so was raving. When I imagine a song in my head, it has all these elements in it."
For many people, Tagaq's mesmerizing performance at the 2014 Polaris Music Prize gala was an immersive introduction. It was, in brief, a powerful display of deep, guttural snorting, grunting, singing and intense emotion. It was, at once, carnal, musical and new. Onstage was an Inuk head banger, a goddess and a tender, mother-like being. There was also an unseen, protective, wolf-like creature, and I'd never seen anything like it.
That's why nailing down a description is hard. The word "challenging" floats about in discussions on Tagaq's sound, and I am partly ashamed to say I used the word myself. When I later listened to her now award-winning album, Animism, I didn't just understand better — I was doing that head-nodding thing you do when you're into a song.
Tagaq's precise musical influences are likely fluid and changing, but if you listen to these musical genres, you might get a full picture of the music that is Tanya Tagaq. We've broken it down into five major influences:
Check the breakdown with descriptions and examples in the gallery above.
What else do you hear when you listen to Tanya Tagaq's music? Let us know below or tweet @cbcradio3.
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