After four years and 13 compositions, we are pleased to celebrate the Crafting the Field series through a commemorative mix compiled by Ghosthorse featuring the works of 11 artists who take us into the field and through the Amazon, connected by many rivers which lead us to the Matsigenka, Shipibo-Konibo, Yine, Awajún, Ashaninka, Iskonawa, and Murui Buue forest people.

Crafting the Field by Xapiri Ground is a creative series of musical compositions that reflect the natural and social environments surrounding Indigenous culture and their contemporaries.

Through collaborations with Indigenous artists, sound designers, and music producers, we hope to encourage a diffusion between cultures through creative research and mutual respect.

Featured in this commemorative mix are the works of various artists whose compositions have been exhibited both in our soundroom and Bandcamp page.

ARTISTS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

Vincent Dwyer / Crafting the Field #01 / Features field recordings from the Las Piedras Forest / An awakening in the jungle opens the door to a world where hearing is our guide and listening, an act of presence. 

Melanie Velarde / Crafting the Field #04 / Features field recordings from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari, Manu Biosphere / We enter the first stage of hypnosis, where layers of textures and sonic fragments envelop us, immersed in a trance, preparing the mind and body.

Christian Mun / Crafting the Field #05 / Features field recordings from the Iskonawa community of Chachibai, Ucayali / A sonic metamorphosis begins: textures mutate, the landscape transforms, and we begin a transition into other worlds.

Orieta Chrem and Rawa / Crafting the Field #06 / Original studio recordings and composition by Orieta Chrem and Shipibo-Konibo artist Rawa / Another hypnosis arises, perhaps a cleansing, a form of ancestral medicine channeled through chants and bowls, reminding us that sound can be a vehicle for transformation and healing. 

Nahun Saldaña / Crafting the Field #03 / Features field recordings of the Ashaninka, courtesy of LUM, Lima, Perú / Ascent to another dimension, where beats and digital textures emanate energy and expansion. 

Irazema Vera / Crafting the Field #10 / Features field recordings from Centro Arenal, Iquitos featuring Murui Buue leader Zoila Ochoa / An environment where a chant disguises itself as a riddle, small capsules of knowledge evoke the richness of ancestral memory and the intimacy of life in the forest.

Agricultura Celeste / Crafting the Field #09 / Features field recordings from the Yine community of Monte Salvado, Madre de Díos / Everything flows like the river itself: human voices intertwine with the life that surrounds them, and through them the ancestors speak to us.

Christian Mun / Crafting the Field #11 / Features original recordings by Enrique Basurto Carvo (Aents Collective) and Awajún master José Ayui Yampis / The ritual space continues with new songs; traditional and contemporary instruments resonate.

Melanie Dizon / Crafting the Field #13 / Features field recordings from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari, Manu Biosphere / Stories of dreams and premonitions appear, harkening us into the dusk, where experimental sounds, birds, and the nocturnal jungle create a contemplative atmosphere.

Ghosthorse / Crafting the Field #07 / Features field recordings from the Shipibo-Konibo community of Masisea, Ucayali / Among them, the resonance of a ceramic vessel and an ancestral song evokes those customs that must endure. With the dawn, what appears to be a new day begins.

Canto V. Engelhard / Crafting the Field #08 / Features field recordings from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari, Manu Biosphere / The journey culminates with the voices of children, which emerge like a promise: in them resonates the future of their communities, the echo of a legacy that lives on.

We express our deepest gratitude to the featured artists on this compilation: 

Vincent Dwyer, Melanie Dizon, Nahun Saldaña, Canto V. Engelhard, Christian Mun, Melanie Velarde, Orieta Chrem and Rawa, Agricultura Celeste, Irazema Vera, and Ghosthorse.

A special thanks to Carlos De la Cruz, a.k.a. “Ghosthorse” for orchestrating this mix into one continuous narrative that weaves ancestral memories with the intimacy of forest life. This project was made possible through our relationships with the different individuals and communities throughout the Peruvian Amazon; to them, we are grateful. We hope you enjoy the journey.

To listen to the compositions of each artist in the series, please visit our Bandcamp page, where you can also purchase and show your support for the Crafting the Field project.