Ahu

Persian Ahu Karimi is a Berlin resident. He began his musical exploits in a punk band in Tehran but time and space and inertia have distilled his music into a rare spiritual essence, with a delicacy and evanescence like memory.

The five tracks here have a gauze like quality. The music is like ether. The opening track Shoone Beh Sar transfixes. It is totally captivating. This is ambient music of the highest quality. Next up is Longing. It is the logical next step after Shoone Beh Sar. It has a shuffling groove so does not initially appear to be an ambient track. But the ambience is in the detail, which slowly unfolds over 9 minutes. Roya begins beat-less, and very languid. A glitchy beat begins early, but the initial languidity is never dispelled; only intensified. Nebel In Sancsouri is next. Even though it has a distinctly jacking groove, the delicate intensity that has already been established through the ep defines the track. At this point, a vibe of seduction by sunlight is complete; then broken by an arresting darkness. Final track Simorgh is crackling electronics and hum. Restless and inexorable. A surprise, a wake up, leaving the listener unsettled after the comfort and narcotic beauty of the preceding tracks. Probably just as well. After listening to the preceding tracks, it seems possible that the listener could remain spellbound.

• 1 Shoone Beh Sar (Moskwa 1974 Reprise)
• 2 Longing
• 3 Roya
• 4 Nebel in Sancsouri
• 5 Simorgh