About a year ago, siblings Chuquimamani-Condori and Joshua Chuquimia Crampton released their thrilling debut as Los Thuthanaka. The album's "ceremonial but swaggy" blend of electronic beats, live instrumentation, and mixtape-style DJ tags was truly original; it took me places I'd never gone before. And as much as I've enjoyed the music the two of them have released separately over the past year, I've been eager to hear them join forces once again.
Last week Chuquimamani-Condori announced a new Los Thuthanaka EP called Waq'a would be out today. It's here, and it's spectacular. The three-song collection, which is actually spelled Wak'a, is a bit more meditative and reined-in at first — the sentimental fog around opener "Quta" reminds me of Cassandra Jenkins — but it's just as much of a sensory overload as the album. I love the way the warm, tender guitar figure on "Wara Wara" coexists with a clattering barrage of noise. Also the country fiddle that introduces "Ay Kawkinpachasa" alongside stuttering beats and chopped-up, pitch-shifted vocals. Nobody's doing it like them.
The Los Thuthanaka project is steeped in the Crampton family's Andean heritage, and Wak'a continues that tradition. It's a musical representation of the Aymara story of the sun, presented with a PDF of the story, titled "Qutax janïr Intix Yurkipänxa (Näyrir Qhanapampix Arumt’awita Willirt’ata)." Two songs are about the creation of the sun, and one is about its end.
Stream Wak'a below and buy it at Bandcamp.
