The Ten Finest International Releases of This Past Year
Looking back on the musical landscape of international music that expanded horizons. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.
Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty
An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical drumming might not seem the easiest listening experience. However, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating work. Directing an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a complex percussive dialect across the record's ten sections. The album references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing motif. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, luring the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive realm.
9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget
After an hiatus of eight years, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a melancholy collection of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged aesthetic that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and introspective, singing soft melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, yearning vibrato against Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is lean and subtle, yet this minimalism offers the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. The album proves to be well worth the wait.
8. Debit – Desaceleradas
From Mexico electronic artist Debit has a knack for uncanny reinterpretations of archival audio. For her latest release, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound down to a crawl, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm through layers of murk and noise to generate a new, foreboding groove. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal memory.
Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Sensory overload is the defining principle for the output of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a tumult of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of neighborhood block parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, throwing in everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and punishingly loud forty-minute listening experience. Surrender to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become oddly exhilarating.
Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually compelling fusion of the metallic sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Drum machine patterns mimics the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a club-ready hybrid delivered more than ten years before the rise of Asian Underground music.
5. Enji – Sonor
Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her broadest music so far. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks 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 lively, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, drawing the listener into the gentle soundscape of her singular voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow
Channeling the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the amplified traditional lute with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's commanding high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They craft sinuous, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that lend a novel, off-kilter interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.
3. Lido Pimienta – La Belleza
Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic dembow rhythms of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Ultimately, it is Pim
