🔗 Share this article This Ten Greatest Global Records of This Past Year As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide releases that expanded horizons. We explore ten remarkable albums that shaped the year in music. Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical percussion may not appear the easiest musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The work draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing figure. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive realm. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget After an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced aesthetic that made her a staple in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and ruminative, singing soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, yearning vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. It is well worth the long anticipation. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit has a knack for eerie reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through layers of distortion and static to create a novel, menacing groove. At turns atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit morphs the celebratory party music of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly afterimage. Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Sensory overload is the key term for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, incorporating 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 notably hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating. Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably compelling combination of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns echoes the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving disco bass groove. It's a dancefloor fusion created more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor From Mongolia singer Enji's soft new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle jazz-pop melodies 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. Featuring a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup ÅžimÅŸek – Yarın Yoksa Drawing on the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup ÅžimÅŸek fuses the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's strong high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece MedellÃn Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals 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 woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide releases that expanded horizons. We explore ten remarkable albums that shaped the year in music. Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already A continuous, 40-minute suite of cyclical percussion may not appear the easiest musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar transforms this driving beat into a unexpectedly magnetic work. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect across the record's 10 movements. The work draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing figure. Over its duration, this refrain begins to emulate the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's unique percussive realm. 9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget After an long absence, Lebanese vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced aesthetic that made her a staple in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and ruminative, singing soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a trembling, yearning vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The production is lean and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. It is well worth the long anticipation. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit has a knack for eerie reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit decelerates this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through layers of distortion and static to create a novel, menacing groove. At turns atmospheric and discomfiting, Debit morphs the celebratory party music of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly afterimage. Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora! Sensory overload is the key term for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a onslaught of alarms, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, incorporating 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 notably hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute sonic journey. Surrender to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating. Number Six: Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated gem. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably compelling combination of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns echoes the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a driving disco bass groove. It's a dancefloor fusion created more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor From Mongolia singer Enji's soft new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music to date. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle jazz-pop melodies 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. Featuring a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the warm acoustics of her distinctive voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup ÅžimÅŸek – Yarın Yoksa Drawing on the 1960s legacy of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup ÅžimÅŸek fuses the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's strong high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into vibrant new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a new, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Eastern European folk melodies and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece MedellÃn Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett traverse a vast range including the liturgical vocals 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 woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim