This 10 Most Outstanding International Albums of This Past Year

The past twelve months have offered a rich tapestry of global sounds that defied expectations. We explore ten remarkable 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 cyclical drumming could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. However, Indian drummer and composer Sarathy Korwar turns this insistent rhythm into a strangely alluring piece. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive dialect across the record's ten sections. The work channels the phasing techniques of Steve Reich alongside traditional Indian musical phrasing, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing figure. Over its duration, this refrain starts to mirror the trance-inducing cycles of ritual music, drawing the listener deeper into Korwar's unique percussive world.

Number Nine: Yasmine Hamdan – I Forget, I Remember

Coming off an hiatus of eight years, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged aesthetic that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and introspective, singing soft melodies over the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop groove of Vows. During more energetic moments such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a quivering, yearning vibrato over north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is sparse and restrained, yet this minimalism offers the ideal setting for Hamdan's deeply felt lyricism to shine through. It is truly deserving of the long anticipation.

8. Debit – Desaceleradas

Mexican electronic artist Debit excels at haunting reinterpretations of historical sounds. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dub-inflected version of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its characteristic synths and syncopated rhythm via layers of murk and hiss to generate a new, foreboding beat. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit converts the exuberant dancefloor sound of cumbia into a lasting, ethereal memory.

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

Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of sirens, pummeling bass tones and shouted lyrics over the classic Brazilian genre of baile funk. This captures the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira cranks up the intensity, adding everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his chaotic bruxaria mix. The result is a especially hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the noise and Vieira's bold productions become unexpectedly freeing.

6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's 1982 album of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a newly appreciated masterpiece. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually engaging blend of the synthetic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her melismatic classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mirrors the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody doubles the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, bossa nova rhythm comes to the fore on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo funky bass rhythm. It's a party blend delivered over a decade before the Asian Underground explosion.

Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor

From Mongolia singer Enji's delicate latest record, Sonor, develops her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most diverse music so far. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's eleven songs travel from the gentle 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 lively, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Featuring a full backing band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay close, inviting the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow

Drawing on the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record with her band Grup Şimşek merges the electric jangle of the electrified saz with dreamy Mellotron and classic soul melodies. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' warm, tape-saturated sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They craft smooth, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that impart a fresh, unconventional twist to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

Number Three: Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Catholic requiem mass music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements all come together on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary fourth album. Orchestrating music for the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Pimienta and producer Owen Pallett journey through everything from the liturgical vocals 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 brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim