Our Ten Most Outstanding International Records of This Past Year
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide releases that expanded horizons. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent percussion could sound like it isn't the most accessible musical proposition. But, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a hypnotically captivating work. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive language over the record's ten parts. The album channels Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a continual, pulsing refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive world.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged style that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and thoughtful, singing tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and rattling electronic percussion. The production is lean and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. It is that justifies the long anticipation.
Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico electronic artist Debit specializes in eerie reworkings of historical sounds. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via sheets of murk and static to create a new, foreboding beat. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, spectral afterimage.
Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the operative word for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a tumult of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, throwing in everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably manic and deafeningly intense 40-minute listening experience. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become strangely freeing.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an strikingly compelling combination of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion mimics the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a fast-paced funky bass rhythm. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's delicate fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her broadest music to date. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the soft 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 energetic, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a full backing band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains close, inviting the listener into the tender acoustics of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Drawing on the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group merges the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a 1970s throwback sound grounded in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that lend a new, quirky twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Sacred music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
