Our 10 Top Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global music that defied expectations. We explore ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of insistent drumming may not appear the easiest listening experience. But, south Asian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating piece. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar creates a dense percussive dialect over the record's ten sections. The album draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, all anchored in the repetition of a persistent, driving motif. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of devotional music, luring the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Following an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy set of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced style that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and ruminative, delivering soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, longing vibrato over electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is lean and restrained, yet this simplicity offers the ideal setting for Hamdan's expressive compositions to resonate. The album proves to be truly deserving of the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, running its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of murk and static to generate a fresh, foreboding beat. Periodically ambient and discomfiting, Debit transforms the joyous dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the key term for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, adding everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly freeing.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a reissued treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably captivating combination of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her fluid Indian classical vocal technique. 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. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion created over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
5. Enji – Sonor
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a live band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, pulling the listener into the gentle soundscape of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa
Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group fuses the electric jangle of the amplified traditional lute with dreamy Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a 1970s throwback sound anchored in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They develop sinuous, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, unconventional spin to the Turkish psych sound.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore everything from the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic 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
