Inuit throat singing, or katajjaq, is a form of musical performance uniquely found among the Inuit. The traditional form consists of two women who sing duets in a close face-to-face formation with no instrumental accompaniment, in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other; however, one of the genre's most famous practitioners, Tanya Tagaq, performs as a solo artist. Several groups, including Tudjaat, The Jerry Cans, Quantum Tangle and Silla + Rise, also now blend traditional throat singing with mainstream musical genres such as pop, folk, rock and dance music.
Medúlla is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electronic–influenced previous album Vespertine (2001), Björk intended to make an album almost entirely a cappella constructed with human vocals. For the project, she collaborated with vocal artists such as Mike Patton of rock band Faith No More, beatboxers Rahzel and Dokaka, as well as Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq. The album's title derives from the Latin word for "marrow".
Tanya Tagaq, also credited as Tagaq, is a Canadian Inuk throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island.
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
The Music from Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9 is a soundtrack created by Björk in collaboration with her then-partner Matthew Barney for his film of the same title. For this project Björk traveled to Japan to study ancient Japanese music. Several tracks are made with the sound of the shō, a Japanese instrument which contains 16 various reeds; the shō performances are from Mayumi Miyata, one of the world's greatest shō players. She also appears in the film, playing her instrument. The song "Holographic Entrypoint" features a Noh score and vocal performance by Shiro Nomura. Björk brought "Nameless" back from her 2003 tour, and, with the help of Leila Arab, looped and edited it to create the track "Storm". Alternative folk singer Will Oldham is featured on the first track, "Gratitude", singing a letter from a Japanese fisherman to General Douglas MacArthur set to a melody by Matthew Barney. Björk's vocals feature only on the tracks "Bath", "Storm", and "Cetacea". "Gratitude", "Shimenawa" and "Cetacea" feature harp player Zeena Parkins, who previously collaborated with Björk on her 2001 album Vespertine. "Hunter Vessel" was later re-used on her album Volta for the tracks "Vertebræ by Vertebræ" and "Declare Independence". The track "Storm" was featured in the 2012 video game Spec Ops: The Line.
"Who Is It" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fifth studio album Medúlla. It was released as the lead single from the album on 18 October 2004 by One Little Indian Records. Björk wrote "Who Is It" during the recording sessions for her previous album, Vespertine (2001), when it was known as "Embrace Fortress"; she left it off the album it as she felt it came from "a different family". The final version features throat singer Tanya Tagaq and beatboxer Rahzel, and lyrics reflecting the dialogue between mother and child.
Emanuel Vigeland was a multitalented Norwegian artist. He is known for a variety of decorations of Scandinavian churches and for Tomba Emmanuelle, his mausoleum at Slemdal in Oslo.
Timber Timbre is a Canadian music group, featuring Taylor Kirk. The moniker refers to an early series of recordings made in a timber-framed cabin set in the wooded outskirts of Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
Jesse Zubot is a Canadian musician primarily known for his unique violin playing. Zubot also works as a composer, producer and recording engineer.
The Indigenous Music Awards, formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards, is an annual Canadian music award, given out to Aboriginal people who are in the music industry.
Roomful of Teeth is a vocal ensemble founded in 2009 by Brad Wells. Its stated mission is to "mine the expressive potential of the human voice".
The 2014 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 22, 2014 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario. Actor Jay Baruchel was the host of the ceremony.
Animism is the third studio album by Canadian Inuk musician Tanya Tagaq, released May 27, 2014 on Six Shooter Records. The album won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize on September 22, 2014, and the Juno Award for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015. It was also a shortlisted nominee for the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year, but did not win.
Partita for 8 Voices is an a cappella composition by American composer Caroline Shaw. It was composed from 2009 through 2012 for the vocal group Roomful of Teeth and was released on their Grammy Award-winning self-titled debut album on 30 October 2012. The piece was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music on 15 April 2013, making Shaw the youngest recipient of the award. The work was not premiered in full until 4 November 2013, at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City.
Retribution is the fourth studio album by Canadian Inuk musician Tanya Tagaq, which was released on October 21, 2016 on Six Shooter Records.
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory or Laakkuluk, is a Kalaaleq performance artist, spoken word poet, actor, storyteller and writer based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is known for performing uaajeerneq, a Greenlandic mask dance that involves storytelling and centers three elements: fear, humour and sexuality. Bathory describes uaajeerneq as both a political and cultural act and an idiosyncratic art form.
Medicine Songs is a studio album by Buffy Sainte-Marie, released November 10, 2017 on True North Records. The album includes both new material and contemporary re-recordings of some of her older songs.
Toothsayer is an EP album by Canadian Inuk musician Tanya Tagaq. It was released on March 1, 2019 through Six Shooter Records.
Split Tooth is the debut novel by Canadian musician Tanya Tagaq, published in 2018. Based in part on her own personal journals, the book tells the story of a young Inuk woman growing up in the Canadian Arctic in the 1970s.
Celina Kalluk is an Inuit-Canadian artist. She creates and performs in several mediums, notably the tradition of Inuit throat singing. In addition to her work as a musician, Kalluk has also worked as an educator, and a children's author, publishing her debut work in 2014.
