The 10 Most Outstanding Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
Looking back on the musical landscape of global music that pushed boundaries. Presenting a selection of 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 might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this insistent rhythm into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten sections. His composition draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the recurrence of a ongoing, thrumming figure. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, luring the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a contemplative set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced style that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and thoughtful, delivering delicate melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, yearning vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and understated, yet this austerity provides the perfect setting for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to resonate. It is that justifies the wait.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in eerie reinterpretations of traditional music. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected version of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through veils of sludge and noise to generate a fresh, sinister groove. Periodically atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit converts the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal afterimage.
Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of alarms, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of urban celebrations. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the energy, adding everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become oddly exhilarating.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably compelling blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody replicates the classic 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 features a driving walking disco bassline. It's a party blend pioneered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Resonance
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, drawing the listener into the gentle acoustics of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek merges the metallic twang of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. But, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches dynamic new territory. They craft sinuous, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a fresh, off-kilter twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore 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 rhythmic dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
