This 10 Top Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global music that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of insistent drumming could sound like it isn't the most approachable listening experience. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a hypnotically captivating work. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive language throughout the record's ten parts. The album channels the phasing techniques of Steve Reich as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the recurrence of a ongoing, driving figure. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ceremonial music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive world.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an eight-year break, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and introspective, delivering tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, yearning vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is minimal and subtle, yet this simplicity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to resonate. The album proves to be that justifies the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican producer Debit specializes in haunting reinterpretations of archival audio. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of murk and hiss to generate a new, menacing rhythm. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit converts the celebratory party music of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly afterimage.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics over 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 energy, throwing in everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly manic and deafeningly intense forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become strangely exhilarating.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably engaging combination of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her fluid classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody replicates the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid created over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her broadest music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still personal, drawing the listener into the warm acoustics of her singular voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's strong high register 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 finds dynamic new territory. They create smooth, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that impart a new, off-kilter interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements all come together on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
