Our Ten Best International Releases of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide sounds that expanded horizons. Presenting a selection of ten exceptional albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive percussion could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect over the record's ten sections. The work references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich as well as classical Indian rhythmic patterns, all anchored in the reiteration of a continual, driving refrain. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.
9. Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
Coming off an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative set of songs. She expands on the Arabic-language, dub-tinged aesthetic 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 soft melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, yearning vibrato against electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The production is lean and restrained, yet this simplicity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. This is a record that justifies the long anticipation.
8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico producer Debit specializes in eerie reworkings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm through veils of sludge and static to produce a fresh, foreboding groove. Periodically ambient and discomfiting, Debit converts the exuberant party music of cumbia into a lasting, spectral echo.
7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Maximalism is the key term for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, throwing in everything from driving techno rhythms to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become strangely freeing.
6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a reissued masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably compelling fusion of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and programmed drums with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody 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 boasts a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion pioneered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
Number Five: Enji – Sonor
From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Departing from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks veer from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodies of downtempo 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 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still personal, drawing the listener into the tender soundscape of her singular voice.
4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Inspired by the 60s heritage of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the metallic twang of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's commanding falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They develop smooth, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that lend a fresh, off-kilter twist to the Turkish psych sound.
Number Three: Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member 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 counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
