🔗 Share this article This 10 Top International Records of This Past Year As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global sounds that pushed boundaries. We explore ten notable albums that characterized the year in music. 10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent percussion might not seem the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a complex percussive language throughout the record's ten sections. The work references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, thrumming figure. The longer one listens, this refrain evokes the trance-inducing cycles of ceremonial music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive realm. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and ruminative, delivering tender melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, yearning vocal technique against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this austerity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the long anticipation. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in uncanny reimaginings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby take of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through veils of sludge and hiss to generate a new, sinister groove. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, spectral memory. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sensory overload is the operative word for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, incorporating everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially frenetic and deafeningly intense 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly freeing. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually compelling blend of the sharp sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mimics the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving disco bass groove. It's a party blend created more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance Mongolian singer Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks range 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 sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the tender soundscape of her unique voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa Inspired by the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the distinctive buzz of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, quirky interpretation to the Turkish psych sound. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Arranging 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 theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the global sounds that pushed boundaries. We explore ten notable albums that characterized the year in music. 10. The Percussionist Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on insistent percussion might not seem the most approachable musical proposition. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring album. Directing an group of three drummers, Korwar creates a complex percussive language throughout the record's ten sections. The work references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the reiteration of a ongoing, thrumming figure. The longer one listens, this refrain evokes the trance-inducing cycles of ceremonial music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive realm. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an long absence, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful album of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-influenced style that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is soft and ruminative, delivering tender melodies atop the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rumbling trip-hop groove of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a quivering, yearning vocal technique against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this austerity offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the long anticipation. 8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Desaceleradas Mexican electronic artist Debit specializes in uncanny reimaginings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby take of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound to a near-halt, filtering its signature synths and off-beat rhythm through veils of sludge and hiss to generate a new, sinister groove. Sometimes ambient and unsettling, Debit transforms the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, spectral memory. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sensory overload is the operative word for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a tumult of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the ferocity, incorporating everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a especially frenetic and deafeningly intense 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly freeing. 6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco music and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually compelling blend of the sharp sound of electronic keyboards and drum machines with her ornate classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mimics the rolling tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving disco bass groove. It's a party blend created more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance Mongolian singer Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, develops her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks range 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 sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a ensemble rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains personal, pulling the listener into the tender soundscape of her unique voice. 4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa Inspired by the 60s heritage of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album with her band Grup Şimşek blends the distinctive buzz of the amplified traditional lute with woozy keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group ventures into lively new territory. They create slinking, downtempo grooves and soaring vocals that lend a fresh, quirky interpretation to the Turkish psych sound. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable fourth album. Arranging 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 theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim