Our 10 Finest Worldwide Records of This Past Year
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide music that expanded horizons. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical drumming could sound like it isn't the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this insistent rhythm into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a dense percussive language throughout the record's ten parts. His composition channels Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a persistent, pulsing motif. The longer one listens, this refrain evokes the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive world.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an eight-year break, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and introspective, singing soft melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, longing vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is minimal and subtle, yet this simplicity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. The album proves to be well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected take of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through layers of sludge and hiss to generate a novel, menacing beat. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, spectral afterimage.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the operative word for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, incorporating everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and punishingly loud 40-minute listening experience. Submit to the cacophony and Vieira's unapologetic productions become oddly exhilarating.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks offer an remarkably captivating combination of the metallic sound of electronic keyboards and programmed drums with her ornate classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody replicates the classic 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 channels a driving walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion created over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a 1970s throwback sound rooted in Yıldırım's strong high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that impart a novel, unconventional interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from 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 brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim