🔗 Share this article This 10 Greatest International Records of This Past Year The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide sounds that pushed boundaries. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that shaped the year in music. 10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion could sound like it isn't the easiest listening experience. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring work. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive language across the record's 10 movements. The album references Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a persistent, thrumming figure. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive world. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and thoughtful, singing tender melodies atop the bowing strings 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 trembling, longing vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The production is minimal and understated, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the wait. Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reworkings of archival audio. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected take of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via layers of sludge and hiss to produce a novel, menacing beat. At turns atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal echo. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sheer intensity is the key term for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, adding 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 punishingly loud 40-minute listening experience. Submit to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become unexpectedly exhilarating. Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably captivating combination of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns echoes the undulating 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 features a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. Enji – Sonor From Mongolia vocalist Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the soft jazz-pop melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her unique voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup ÅžimÅŸek – Yarın Yoksa Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and influenced 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 reaches dynamic new territory. They develop slinking, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a novel, unconventional spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. 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 dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim
The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of worldwide sounds that pushed boundaries. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that shaped the year in music. 10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive percussion could sound like it isn't the easiest listening experience. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a strangely alluring work. Guiding an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar crafts a dense percussive language across the record's 10 movements. The album references Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with Indian classical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a persistent, thrumming figure. The longer one listens, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's singular percussive world. Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Lebanese singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a contemplative set of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged sound that cemented her status in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is gentle and thoughtful, singing tender melodies atop the bowing strings 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 trembling, longing vocal technique over Maghrebi-inspired synth melodies and clattering electronic percussion. The production is minimal and understated, yet this minimalism offers the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive compositions to shine through. This is a record truly deserving of the wait. Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down From Mexico electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reworkings of archival audio. On her new album, Desaceleradas, she turns her attention to the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected take of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via layers of sludge and hiss to produce a novel, menacing beat. At turns atmospheric and unsettling, Debit converts the joyous party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal echo. 7. The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio! Sheer intensity is the key term for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, also known as DJ K. Inventing his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of alarms, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the propulsive sound of favela street parties. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, adding 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 punishingly loud 40-minute listening experience. Submit to the noise and Vieira's unapologetic productions become unexpectedly exhilarating. Number Six: The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco Sikh devotional singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an remarkably captivating combination of the metallic sound of early synthesizers and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian vocal technique. Drum machine patterns echoes the undulating 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 features a fast-paced walking disco bassline. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion. 5. Enji – Sonor From Mongolia vocalist Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her most wide-ranging music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the soft jazz-pop melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and twanging guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a energetic, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still intimate, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her unique voice. Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup ÅžimÅŸek – Yarın Yoksa Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia established by groups such as MoÄŸollar, German-Turkish singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group blends the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic grounded in Yıldırım's powerful falsetto and influenced 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 reaches dynamic new territory. They develop slinking, downtempo grooves and powerful vocals that give a novel, unconventional spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style. Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. 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 dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim