Our 10 Top International Records of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide sounds that defied expectations. Presenting a selection of ten notable albums that characterized the year in music.
10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent drumming might not seem the most accessible musical proposition. However, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Guiding an trio of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive language throughout the record's 10 movements. His composition channels the phasing techniques of Steve Reich as well as Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a continual, thrumming figure. As the album progresses, this refrain evokes the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Following an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan makes a comeback with a mournful collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced 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 atop 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 employs a quivering, longing vocal technique against electronic lines with North African flavors and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this simplicity provides the ideal environment for Hamdan's emotive compositions to resonate. It is truly deserving of the long anticipation.
8. Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at uncanny reinterpretations of archival audio. For her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American dance genre. Debit drags this sound even further, filtering its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via sheets of sludge and static to generate a fresh, sinister rhythm. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit morphs the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal memory.
7. DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a cacophony of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the energetic sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up 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 notably frenetic and punishingly loud forty-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly freeing.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an strikingly engaging blend of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion echoes the undulating tones of the tabla, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya boasts a up-tempo disco bass groove. It's a party blend delivered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.
Number Five: Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's delicate latest record, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her broadest music so far. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces 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 lively, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, inviting the listener into the gentle acoustics of her unique voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They develop sinuous, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that impart a fresh, off-kilter interpretation to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Arranging music for the sixty-member Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
