This 10 Finest Global Releases of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide music that expanded horizons. We explore ten notable albums that characterized the year in music.
Number Ten: The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive drumming may not appear the easiest musical proposition. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten parts. The work references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, each grounded in the recurrence of a ongoing, driving refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain evokes the hypnotic repetition of ceremonial music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive universe.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy set of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced sound that established her as a fixture in the region's indie music scene since the nineties. Hamdan's vocal delivery is quiet and ruminative, delivering delicate melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a trembling, longing vibrato over 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 shine through. It is well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in uncanny reimaginings of historical sounds. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American dance genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, processing its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through sheets of distortion and noise to produce a fresh, sinister beat. At turns atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit converts the exuberant party music of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal memory.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!
Sensory overload is the key term for the music 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 longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira escalates the ferocity, throwing in everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become oddly exhilarating.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually compelling fusion of the sharp sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her melismatic Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines parallels the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo disco bass groove. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's delicate new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her broadest music so far. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle jazz-pop melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay close, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her singular voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's latest work with her band Grup Şimşek blends the metallic twang of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and lifting vocals that impart a fresh, quirky twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Catholic requiem mass music, Eastern European folk melodies and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
