The Ten Greatest Global Releases of This Past Year
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the international sounds that defied expectations. We explore ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive drumming may not appear the easiest musical proposition. Yet, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a hypnotically captivating work. Guiding an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a complex percussive language throughout the record's 10 movements. His composition draws from minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as Indian classical phrasing, each grounded in the reiteration of a persistent, driving motif. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of ceremonial music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged style that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's voice is gentle and ruminative, singing delicate melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, longing vocal technique over electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is lean and understated, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive compositions to resonate. This is a record truly deserving of the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
From Mexico producer Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of traditional music. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound down to a crawl, filtering its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of distortion and noise to create a novel, menacing rhythm. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit transforms the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, spectral echo.
Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, throwing in everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially frenetic and deafeningly intense forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become strangely exhilarating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually engaging fusion of the synthetic sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion mimics the rolling tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced disco bass groove. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
From Mongolia singer Enji's soft latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks range from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging 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 standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, drawing the listener into the warm acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a 1970s throwback sound rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They craft slinking, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that give a novel, off-kilter spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member 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 counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
