Tagaq f/ Buck 65: "Gentle"

With an array of transformative vocal cries and pitch-shifting whispers, the music of Tanya Tagaq Gillis invites you into a realm of sensuality and intuition that can be found on few maps. With a well honed radical style of Katajjaq, a traditional Inuit throat singing, she bravely explores the extreme vocal ranges and oblong soundscapes traversed by many contemporary improv and noise musicians. The songs diverge sharply from areas of western pop conformity, but collaborations with a host of provocative guests have aided in providing a new points of entry for interested audiences. However, one disconcerting low point in her ambitious collaborative streak is “Gentle,” a song with Buck 65 that doesn’t seem to achieve full symbiosis with Tagaq’s nether world.

Over what could best be described as a quintessential trip-hop beat, the meeting of Tagaq and Buck plays out exactly as someone familiar with their respective works might imagine it would, if they didn’t actually use their imagination. The track puts most of its weight on Buck, but his uninspired raps fall short and sound out of place, far less vibrant than any of the material from last year’s throwback gem, Situation. Tagaq is unfortunately found dwelling ghost like in the background, painting a mural of echoed breaths and groove-stained hums that remain relatively static throughout. She also suffers between Buck’s verses; left out in the open on the monolithic beat, she fails to come up with much more than a wayward melodic variation on the rhythm.

Good intentions just aren’t enough here because these artists have provided music with so many paths for moving forward. While Tagaq has only begun to make waves in the music world over the past few years, she has constantly taken chances with dissonance and vocal experimentation. And, even though it isn’t possible for Buck to break ground every single time that he records, his long legacy of deviating from the norm should have counted for something more on this track. For artists of their calibre, this all seems like a poor shortcut to a less than novel collaboration. Lucky then that “Gentle” is such an oddity on Auk~Blood, a minor blight.