The Ten Top Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
Looking back on the musical landscape of global releases that defied expectations. We explore ten remarkable albums that characterized the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical percussion might not seem the easiest musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating album. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive language over the record's ten sections. The album draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with Indian classical phrasing, each grounded in the repetition of a persistent, thrumming figure. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the hypnotic repetition of ceremonial music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive universe.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an eight-year break, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a contemplative set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that established her as a fixture in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and ruminative, singing 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 uses a wavering, yearning vibrato against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and restrained, yet this minimalism creates the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive lyricism to resonate. It is truly deserving of the wait.
Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico producer Debit has a knack for uncanny reimaginings of archival audio. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, running its signature synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of murk and static to create a new, foreboding rhythm. Sometimes ambient and discomfiting, Debit transforms the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the music of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and deafeningly intense 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the assault and Vieira's unapologetic productions become oddly freeing.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually engaging fusion of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion mimics the rolling tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion created more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle latest record, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her broadest music to date. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces travel from the gentle 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 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, inviting the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group merges the metallic twang of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. However, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They develop smooth, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that give a new, off-kilter twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse everything from the liturgical vocals 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
