Sound Reviews 97

translation on the album is not consistent, since fairly “exotic” human sound. Compared to the liner notes do provide the text for “Ilunikavi” other performances of “Qimiruluapik,” for in- in both languages (the English a rather loose stance, her track has more breathiness and less translation of the ). The only English- edge, perhaps bringing it closer to audiences’ language text, “Still,” is a fairly obvious reference expectations about the sound of a female to the Björk album, with its imagery of “marrow voice. still/sinew still/tendon still.” The materiality of is, then, a sort of riff on the motifs that the body is also referenced on other tracks: are commonplace within throat-singing “Uvinik” (Human flesh) and “Ilunikavi” (We cultures. The electronic manipulation, multi- are blood / we are animals). References to the tracking of new layers, and alterations of syl- body are commonplace in the texts of tradi- lables, accompaniments, and sequences are the tional Inuit throat songs and other game songs, traces of a creative artist who builds on a unique such as juggling songs. network of experiences and memories. This is There are other tracks, claimed as Tagaq’s surely how traditions develop and revitalize. I original compositions, that are deeply rooted, am bothered, though, by the fact that a highly if not directly identifiable, as “traditional.” successful individual is collecting royalties for “Surge” combines two traditional throat games, the use of a tradition that is regarded as shared although the syllables of the second one, often property. As her career burgeons and further identified simply ashapapa , sometimes trans- high-profile collaborations (with, for example, mogrify into mamama. “Seamless” and “Ori- the Kronos Quartet) unfold, I hope that Tagaq gin” are similarly very close to traditional will work with the Inuit women of Nunavik and throat songs, although the “hapapa” motif is to resolve this issue. sped up at times. The same motif is looped into a steady rhythmic underpinning in “Breather.” These appropriations are predictably somewhat Songs from the Second Float: Music from the controversial. The Inuit women who gathered Island of Takū. 2005. Recorded, compiled, and in 2001 at the first Throat Singers Convention annotated by Richard Moyle. Ode Music, CD discussed the fact that throat singing was an (1) MANU 2042. art that they shared, and the ownership of this oral tradition (like many other indigenous mu- Kirsty Gillespie sical genres) should be recognized as commu- Griffith University nal, not individual. The contemporary copy- right law of modern nations does not recognize Richard Moyle has a long-standing relationship such group rights, although international agen- with Takū, an atoll in the far reaches of Papua cies such as the World Intellectual Property New Guinea, over two hundred kilometers Organization (WIPO) are struggling to articu- northeast of Bougainville. In the last decade, late these issues. Moyle has produced a number of publications Tanya Tagaq’s throat-singing technique is from his work on this atoll, including the reliant on modern technology. Throat singing collection of oral literature Nā Kkai Takū: Takū’s is traditionally a duet, with two singers facing Musical Fables, published by the Institute of one another at a close distance and performing Papua New Guinea Studies in 2003, and the recurrent patterns in a very tight canon (that monograph Songs from the Second Float: A is, the second vocalist in exact and immediate Musical Ethnography of Takū Atoll, Papua New repetition of the first). Tagaq is a solo act, mul- Guinea, published by the University of Hawai‘i titracking her own voice to constitute the Press in 2007. This CD of music recordings, canonic part in some cases, adding different released prior to the monograph, is a companion layers of vocalization in others. The style of to it. mixing used on her voice reflects, to my ears at Featuring twelve tracks that span a range of least, an industry-defined feminization of the song genres, the CD is an example of what traditional vocal quality, although it is still a Moyle calls “actuality recordings” (p. 1)— 98 Journal of American Folklore 124 (2011)

recordings conducted in situ and including the wanting to understand the musical forms more sounds of community life on the atoll such as closely, with significant detail (considering the the crowing of roosters and bottles clinking. CD booklet’s limited space) on the performance (Unfortunately, however, information on the context for the recording, dance, and vocal recording equipment used is not provided.) The styles. On the first page of the booklet, Moyle accompanying ten-page CD booklet is testimony explains a very distinct feature of Takū vocal to Moyle’s comprehensive knowledge of Takū accentuation that features prominently on the life and culture and in particular his interest in CD, where syllables are pronounced with aspects of Takū language (at the time of writing, varying degrees of stress, first softly and then Moyle was completing a dictionary project for ending louder. This vocal style can be quite the language). Each song has been carefully disorienting for the unattuned listener, so it is documented in the language in which it is sung, helpful to have this information on which to with a line-by-line translation in English and an hang one’s aural experience of the tracks. introductory paragraph describing the genre As is the case with most Pacific Island and often the significance of the text. Moyle also cultures, song and dance are inextricably shows where certain song lines are repeated or intertwined on Takū. Moyle goes to considerable revisited by numbering each song line and then effort to document dance movements when repeating the relevant line number in brackets describing the genres profiled on this CD, and at the end of lines where it reappears. This allows he includes five different photographs (most in the listener to follow along with the recording, color) in the booklet and inside the tray card though the meaning of this numbering is not that illustrate certain movements. However, the explained in the booklet and may be initially medium of audio CD simply cannot perplexing to the reader. Where a translation is accommodate such bodily expression, and this not possible due to the age of a song, Moyle may frustrate the dance researcher/ marks it so, which in itself is valuable, drawing ethnochoreologist. Hopefully video footage of attention to the ongoing change in Takū musical Takū performances will be made available in life and language. the future, making this element of Takū cultural The high level of detail provided in Moyle’s expression available to the outsider. booklet reveals the complexity of Takū’s social The importance of documenting the cultural history. Although isolated in some sense, Takū practices of the people of Takū is strongly felt has always been very much a part of the broader while experiencing this recording. Takū is a Pacific network, its cultural life incorporating low-lying atoll under increasing threat of rising influences from interaction with other Polynesian sea levels, and the islanders’ relocation to Outliers, parts of Papua New Guinea and the neighboring Bougainville and elsewhere is Solomon Islands, Australia, and the United States already underway, with proceeds from this CD and reflecting trade relationships, colonial used to assist the community of Takū with this histories, plantation labor, and migrant radical change to their lives. The threat posed experiences. Much of this outside influence is by climate change is shining a spotlight upon captured in the songs presented here. This is the traditions of this and other low-lying atolls evident in the language used: Moyle explains that and islands, but it is important that as this the lyrics “contain a mix of contemporary and occurs, cultures are not falsely reified or archaic expressions, the odd English or Pidgin romanticized. One of the great things about word, and the occasional phrase in deliberate Moyle’s CD is that it presents Takū within a imitation of the language of neighbouring atolls” network of exchange and relation, firmly within (p. 1). External cultural influence can also be the Pacific’s “sea of islands” (to quote the late heard in introduced musical elements; the Epeli Hau‘ofa) and the wider world. In doing contemporary song form lani featured on track so, it highlights the culture of Takū as part of 8 is a good example of this, as it incorporates a the heritage of humanity, a heritage that will be vocal drone with its melodic line. diminished when Takū itself is ultimately lost The notes are very informative for those to the sea. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.