Joshua Chuquimia Crampton’s new album Anata radiates a fleshly vitality that makes it difficult to comprehend that these sounds were recorded in a studio. Crampton’s solo work leans even heavier into cathartic spiritual ecstasy in an attempt to evoke the ceremonial traditions of the indigenous Aymara people than his work on Los Thuthanaka, the duo whose electrifying self-titled album entranced and befuddled the music world last year. Jagged, psychedelic guitar sounds and thumping percussion create a world of sonic overstimulation, wherein traditional forms of auditory processing are replaced by an ineffable primal intensity.
It is on mid-album highlight “Convocación “Banger/Diffusion” where the evocation of the album’s titular ceremony Anata, a celebration of the mother goddess Pachamama before rain season comes, is fully realized. Starting off with a guitar tone that recalls equal parts Glenn Branca and Kevin Shields in its whirling distortion, Crampton hints at a continuation of the ensconcing noise characteristic of the album thus far. The opening’s relentless pummeling isn’t intimidating or antagonistic, but rather an invitation of vibrant rapture. Yet, almost immediately, the noise abruptly gives way to a gentle tapestry of synth patches and tape loops that swirl around in a cosmic effervescence. The soundscape is soon rejoined with Crampton’s guitar – but this time, it’s the sound of echoey double stops and restrained arpeggios instead of the earlier cacophony. If the song’s opening salvo was the celebration of Pachamama, then the rest is the pattering arrival of the rain, slowly washing away the soot-covered remnants of burnt offerings.
In an interview with Tone Glow, Crampton stated that “you’re supposed to feel the sound. It’s not supposed to be painful, but it’s supposed to change you, it’s supposed to make you feel healed in some way.” “Convocación “Banger/Diffusion”” captures that central quality of Crampton’s music within the space of 4 minutes. A microcosmal moment of spiritual healing, Crampton proves that the limitless potential of sound can elicit sensations far more than just pleasure.
Graphic by Xanthe Massey