Our 10 Most Outstanding Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of international music that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on repetitive drumming may not appear the most approachable listening experience. But, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating piece. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive language throughout the record's 10 movements. The work references Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with classical Indian rhythmic patterns, all anchored in the recurrence of a persistent, driving figure. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of devotional music, luring the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive universe.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an hiatus of eight years, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative collection of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced sound that established her as a fixture in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is gentle and introspective, singing tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, yearning vocal technique against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and understated, yet this minimalism offers the ideal canvas for Hamdan's emotive lyricism to resonate. The album proves to be truly deserving of the long anticipation.
Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in uncanny reworkings of archival audio. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, filtering its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of distortion and noise to generate a fresh, foreboding beat. Periodically atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal afterimage.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the energetic sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the energy, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and deafeningly intense 40-minute listening experience. Give in to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become oddly liberating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually engaging fusion of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion mimics the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her broadest music so far. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs range from the gentle jazz-pop melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay close, drawing the listener into the warm acoustics of her distinctive voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group fuses the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a 1970s throwback sound rooted in Yıldırım's strong high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create sinuous, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that lend a new, off-kilter spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
