The Three Seasons of the Andes – Kimsa Pachanka

The Aymara herders of Bolivia refer to three annual seasons: Lupi Pacha (dry season), Jallu Pacha (rainy season) and Thaya Pacha (cold season). This understanding of the natural world lies at the heart of the Andes’ Indigenous cultures. It’s also present in the way that Los Ruphay, in tribute to their late founder and director Mario P Gutiérrez, are seeking further international recognition of Quechua and Aymara peoples, and an understanding of their plight in the face of climate change and marginalisation, through their music. Several decades of Andean music have been popularised in the West through groups such as Los Ruphay – extant since the 1960s – making us familiar with many of the sounds on this record; siku (panpipe), charango (small lute), etc, but Los Ruphay avoid the worst excesses of Westernisation and pastiche that have been layered atop this culture, instead, presenting an unabashedly simple recording of traditionals and original Gutiérrez melodies woven into a narrative tapestry of sound evoking the annual Andean cycle. Listen to the rains, the strong mountain winds, the creaking of glaciers and the harvest dances.