The 10 Most Outstanding Global Releases of This Past Year
Looking back on the musical landscape of worldwide releases that pushed boundaries. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion might not seem the easiest musical proposition. However, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating work. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten sections. The work references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the recurrence of a persistent, driving figure. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of ceremonial music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive world.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and ruminative, delivering delicate melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, longing vocal technique against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The production is minimal and subtle, yet this minimalism provides the ideal environment for Hamdan's expressive compositions to take center stage. This is a record well worth the long anticipation.
8. Debit – Slowed Down
Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, filtering its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of murk and noise to create a new, foreboding beat. Periodically atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit transforms the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, spectral memory.
7. DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sheer intensity is the defining principle for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of neighborhood block parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the energy, adding everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially manic and punishingly loud 40-minute listening experience. Surrender to the assault and Vieira's brash productions become oddly liberating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably captivating blend of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody replicates the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Sonor
Mongolian singer Enji's soft new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her broadest music yet. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's strong high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a novel, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
