This Ten Top Global Records of This Past Year

As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide sounds that pushed boundaries. Here is a countdown of ten exceptional albums that characterized the year in music.

Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty

An album consisting of a single, extended movement of repetitive drumming may not appear the most accessible listening experience. But, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a unexpectedly magnetic piece. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar develops a intricate percussive language over the record's ten parts. The work references minimalist concepts from Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the recurrence of a ongoing, driving motif. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the ceremonial rhythm of ritual music, pulling the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.

Number Nine: The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget

Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Arab vocalist and composer Yasmine Hamdan re-emerges with a melancholy collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-sung, dub-influenced sound that made her a staple in the Arab alternative scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and thoughtful, delivering tender melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the deep trip-hop beat of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a trembling, longing vibrato over north African synth lines and skittering electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and restrained, yet this austerity provides the perfect environment for Hamdan's emotive lyricism to resonate. The album proves to be well worth the wait.

Number Eight: Debit – Desaceleradas

Mexican producer Debit excels at uncanny reimaginings of traditional music. On her latest release, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby interpretation of the rhythmic Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound down to a crawl, running its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via veils of sludge and noise to generate a new, foreboding groove. At turns atmospheric and uneasy, Debit transforms the celebratory party music of cumbia into a persistent, ethereal memory.

Number Seven: The São Paulo Producer DJ K – Liberator Radio!

Maximalism is the operative word for the records of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a cacophony of alarms, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his second album, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the energy, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably frenetic and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute listening experience. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become strangely exhilarating.

6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an remarkably captivating fusion of the sharp sound of electronic keyboards and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical vocal technique. Electronic percussion mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines replicates the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a driving funky bass rhythm. It's a dancefloor fusion pioneered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.

5. Enji – Resonance

Mongolian vocalist Enji's soft fourth album, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-inflected sound to deliver some of her broadest music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodies of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German-language narration lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a lively, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Showcasing a full backing band rather than her typical setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound remains intimate, pulling the listener into the gentle acoustics of her singular voice.

Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Yarın Yoksa

Inspired by the 1960s legacy of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group fuses the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy Mellotron and soulful tunes. It's a retro-70s aesthetic anchored in Yıldırım's strong high register and shaped by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape aesthetic. But, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds vibrant new territory. They craft sinuous, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that lend a novel, off-kilter twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – The Beauty

Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings all come together on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Arranging music for the 60-piece Medellín 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 counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim