Ahnnu - World Music Review

rating: 4.5

The LA-based Ahnnu, known to his friends as Leland Jackson, has spent the better part of the past couple of years exploring the nether regions of sampled sound in the form of resolutely lo-fi beat tapes, and every subsequent release has seen him gently hone his craft. He first caught my attention in early 2012 with Couch, a cassette released through Culture Dealer, but his definitive statement came later that year in pro habitat, an album that showcased Ahnnu's breadth of carefully manipulated samples and loops. Crackly vignettes of acoustic guitar strumming gave way to warped, dislocated lounge music, while mangled hip-hop beats set the stage for sophisticated jazz drumming. It was a captivating, intricate listen, which demanded repeated plays in order to take in every little sonic deconstruction it had to offer. After a steady stream of new tracks in 2013, we have arrived at World Music, released on September 3rd by Leaving Records. As indicated by the title, it draws on found sound from a number of different locations and sources. More so than both Couch and pro habitat, World Music feels particularly serene in its sample-screwing, with some moments of real beauty. The carefree vocal jazz loop in "Non2", the blissful field recordings of "Found"; there are numerous moments like this on World Music where I feel almost awestruck by the charms of Ahnnu's deft, playful echo-jams. Although World Music is a relative breeze, it's also a deceptively layered work; certainly less so than the sprawling smorgasbord of pro habitat, but enough to invite further inspection beyond the album's glistening surface. "Shame" initially combines a jazzy interlude, what sounds like a clock ticking and reverb-lathered voices, before being turned completely on its head with the introduction of an ethereal loop which rides out the remainder of the track. "Ghillie in the Mist" lightly throbs until a pitch-shifted exotica loop enters the fore. This brief - just under 20 minutes - release demonstrates the tightly assembled mess that Ahnnu has been gunning for over these past few years with a masterful, elegant touch. With this release, Ahnnu manages the elusive feat of balancing pleasurable listening with some rather experimental sampling techniques. It is to his credit that World Music always strikes me as a matter of concision, even when some of the most abstract snippets at his disposal are utilised. Sure, it's not a perfect album, but it doesn't try to be either, and that makes it all the more likeable. Of the release, its creator said, "Each track was arranged as separate entities and are holistic in the sense that they are intended to inspire an experience of indifference within a space of perpetual sonic motion." Although I am slightly inclined to agree with his sentiments, I would still advocate that World Music is musically Ahnnu's tightest body of work to date, be it through indifference or not.