UK Only
Aho Ssan - The Sun Turned Black - 1LP
30/05/2026
IDA167LP
Artist:
Aho Ssan
Label:
Ici D'Ailleurs / Subtext Recordings
Version Description:
Black vinyl
Sound Carrier:
1LP
Barcode:
3521381605372
Aho Ssan is the stage name of Désiré Nianké. Based in Paris, Aho Ssan has been active for
10 years and has established himself in recent years as a key figure at the crossroads of
experimental electronic music, sound research, and contemporary music.
Active for a decade, Aho Ssan first won the France Television Foundation Award for his
soundtrack for the film Ingha Mago in 2015. He subsequently worked on several projects
related to IRCAM/GRM in France. In 2020, he released his first LP, Simulacrum, on the British
label Subtext Records, followed by Limen (2022) in collaboration with the artist KMRU, and
Rhizomes in 2023 on Nicolas Jaar's Other People label, featuring prestigious names such as
Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, clipping., Blackhaine, and others. In 2025, he created the
collaborative project “Ego Death” with cellist Resina, again on Subtext Records.
He has performed on numerous stages across Europe and the United States, including
Lincoln Center (New York), La Maison de la Radio (Paris), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), and
Krakow Philharmonic (Krakow). He also participates in festivals such as Atonal Berlin, CTM,
Hyperweekend, Rewire, Sonic Acts, Musica and more. In 2024, at the request of Autechre,
Aho Ssan opened for the British duo at Le Trianon in Paris. On April 11, he will perform at the
Philharmonie de Paris as the opening act for Caterina Barbieri.
Aho Ssan's practice could be defined as a highly precise sound sculpture, where massive
flows of digital synthesis disintegrate into raw textures to explore the themes of identity and
chaos.
“The Sun Turned Black” is the result of research initiated during Aho Ssan's recent trip to
Ghana, the land of his origins. Deeply inspired by this environment, the musician
experimented on site using raw sound materials and field recordings.
Two sensations left a lasting impression on Aho Ssan. First, the Ghanaian experience
appeared to him, in his own words, as a magnificent organized chaos, in the splendor and
majesty of noise. This saturation fuels and confirms the noisy, grainy aesthetic that Aho
Ssan has cultivated since his beginnings.
Second, this trip brought the artist's questioning of identity to the forefront. The feeling of
not having an obvious place in the world is reflected in his music through a rejection of
polarity, of a center of gravity, of a fixed system.
In the months following his trip, Aho Ssan received a commission from Maison de la Radio
for the “Hyperweekend” festival and met violinist ASIA, with whom he created the immersive
work “100 Soleils,” the first draft of “The Sun Turned Black.”
Aho Ssan, by imposing technical constraints on himself, has crafted a free and original
album at the crossroads between ambient and electroacoustic music. Among other things,
he has banned percussive elements and offers a sonic dialogue with ASIA's violin. This
framework allows the artist to subvert the codes of the genre with a certain jubilation. An
attitude that is as much playful as it is commentary.
With “The Sun Turned Black,” the artist abandons all reference to a philosophical concept
and chooses a more poetic evocation to let the music speak for itself. The titles of the
successive tracks metaphorically evoke the trajectory of the sun, from its rise to this
ambiguous event: the sun has turned black. Eclipse, twilight, or metamorphosis?
1. Sunrise
2. 100 Suns Pt. I
3. 100 Suns Pt. II
4. The Children of Noise feat. ASIA
5. 100 Suns Pt. III
6. 100 Suns Pt. IV
7. The Sun Turned Black
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