The Ten Top Worldwide Albums of This Past Year
Looking back on the musical landscape of global releases that defied expectations. We explore ten notable albums that defined the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical drumming may not appear the easiest musical proposition. But, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive dialect throughout the record's ten sections. His composition references Steve Reich's phasing motifs alongside classical Indian rhythmic patterns, each grounded in the reiteration of a persistent, pulsing motif. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ceremonial music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive world.
Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
Coming off an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a melancholy collection of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that made her a staple in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and thoughtful, singing tender melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a trembling, yearning vocal technique against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and skittering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this minimalism creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's emotive lyricism to take center stage. The album proves to be well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in eerie reimaginings of historical sounds. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via veils of murk and static to produce a novel, foreboding rhythm. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Maximalism is the key term for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of alarms, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the driving sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the energy, throwing in everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and punishingly loud 40-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the noise 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 music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered gem. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably captivating fusion of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her melismatic Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion mirrors the undulating tones of the tabla, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a driving walking disco bassline. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the global breakthrough of South Asian electronic music.
Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor
Mongolian singer Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most diverse music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her distinctive voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Drawing on the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a 1970s throwback sound anchored in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create smooth, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a fresh, quirky spin to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
