This Ten Best Worldwide Releases of This Past Year
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide releases that pushed boundaries. We explore ten notable albums that characterized the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on repetitive percussion could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. However, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive language throughout the record's ten sections. His composition draws from minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the recurrence of a ongoing, thrumming motif. The longer one listens, this refrain evokes the hypnotic repetition of devotional music, luring the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive world.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a melancholy collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced sound that established her as a fixture in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and introspective, singing delicate melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, longing vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and rattling electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and subtle, yet this austerity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's emotive songwriting to take center stage. This is a record well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican producer Debit has a knack for eerie reworkings of historical sounds. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby take of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound to a near-halt, filtering its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm via veils of sludge and hiss to produce a fresh, foreboding groove. Periodically atmospheric and uneasy, Debit transforms the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal memory.
7. DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the operative word for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, incorporating everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly frenetic and punishingly loud 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become oddly freeing.
Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an strikingly captivating blend of the sharp sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. At other times, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving walking disco bassline. It's a party blend created over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia vocalist Enji's delicate latest record, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most wide-ranging music yet. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the soft jazz-pop 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 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still personal, pulling the listener into the tender soundscape of her singular voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the amplified traditional lute with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create smooth, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that lend a fresh, unconventional spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. 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 dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
