When Tanya Tagaq went to college in Nova Scotia, she came down with the typical post-adolescent affliction known as homesickness. Her mother had just the cure: a tape of traditional throat singing that harked back to Tagaq’s Inuit roots. The chanting and guttural growling of the wordless vocal style sparked something in her and, as she told the Guardian, she “woke up.” While throat singing originated as more of a vocal game for two than a musical style, the Björk collaborator takes the form into new territory. For her upcoming concert at FlynnSpace, Tagaq, backed by drums and violins, infuses her often-improvised vocalizations with elements of electronica, industrial and metal music.
