Our 10 Finest Global Releases of This Past Year
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the international music that expanded horizons. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of insistent percussion might not seem the most accessible listening experience. However, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring album. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive language throughout the record's 10 movements. The work references Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the recurrence of a continual, thrumming figure. As the album progresses, this refrain evokes the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced sound that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and introspective, singing delicate melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, longing vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The production is sparse and understated, yet this simplicity creates the perfect environment for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to shine through. The album proves to be well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in uncanny reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected take of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound down to a crawl, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via veils of murk and static to generate a novel, sinister rhythm. At turns ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the joyous party music of cumbia into a persistent, ghostly afterimage.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, adding everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and punishingly loud 40-minute sonic journey. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become oddly exhilarating.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered gem. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably captivating blend of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her melismatic Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the rolling tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo disco bass groove. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces range from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay intimate, pulling the listener into the tender soundscape of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the metallic twang of the electrified saz with dreamy keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a 1970s throwback sound anchored in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They craft smooth, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that lend a new, quirky twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
