The Ten Best International Records of This Past Year
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of international releases that pushed boundaries. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that shaped the year in music.
10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion might not seem the most approachable listening experience. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating work. Guiding an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a complex percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten parts. His composition references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich as well as Indian classical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a continual, thrumming motif. As the album progresses, this refrain evokes the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive universe.
Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember
After an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful album of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-influenced sound that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and introspective, singing delicate melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she adopts a wavering, yearning vibrato over north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and understated, yet this simplicity creates the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to shine through. It is well worth the long anticipation.
Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas
Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at eerie reinterpretations of historical sounds. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound even further, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through sheets of distortion and noise to produce a new, menacing groove. Periodically ambient and uneasy, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly echo.
Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Radio Libertadora!
Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a onslaught of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Submit to the assault and Vieira's unapologetic productions become oddly exhilarating.
6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi
Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually captivating fusion of the metallic sound of electronic keyboards and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Electronic percussion echoes the wavelike tones of the tabla, while synthesiser melody doubles the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a up-tempo disco bass groove. It's a club-ready hybrid pioneered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.
5. Enji – Resonance
Mongolian vocalist Enji's gentle fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Departing from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the soft Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a live band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still close, drawing the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.
Number Four: Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa
Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek merges the electric jangle of the electrified saz with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. Yet, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They create smooth, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that impart a new, unconventional twist to the Turkish psych sound.
3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty
Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's stunning fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett explore a vast range including the Gregorian chants of opener Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna) to the dramatic counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
