The Ten Top International Albums of This Past Year

As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the worldwide music that pushed boundaries. We explore ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.

Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already

A continuous, 40-minute suite of repetitive drumming may not appear the most accessible musical proposition. But, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this persistent pulse into a hypnotically captivating piece. Directing an ensemble of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive language across the record's ten parts. The album draws from Steve Reich's phasing motifs combined with classical Indian rhythmic patterns, everything tethered in the repetition of a ongoing, pulsing refrain. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive realm.

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 album of songs. She expands on the Arabic-sung, dub-tinged style that established her as a fixture in the Middle Eastern independent music landscape since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is gentle and ruminative, delivering soft melodies over the bowing strings of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. For more upbeat numbers such as Shadia and Abyss, she employs a wavering, longing vibrato against north African synth lines and clattering electronic percussion. The musical backdrop is minimal and understated, yet this simplicity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's deeply felt compositions to take center stage. The album proves to be well worth the long anticipation.

8. The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down

From Mexico producer Debit excels at haunting reworkings of historical sounds. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she focuses on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby version of the rhythmic Latin American musical style. Debit drags this sound even further, running its signature synths and syncopated rhythm via layers of murk and hiss to produce a fresh, sinister groove. Periodically ambient and unsettling, Debit converts the celebratory dancefloor sound of cumbia into a enduring, ghostly afterimage.

Number Seven: DJ K – Liberator Radio!

Maximalism is the defining principle for the records of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira layers a tumult of sirens, pummeling bass tones and screamed lyrics over the longstanding Brazilian genre of baile funk. This recreates the driving sound of neighborhood block parties. On his follow-up release, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the energy, incorporating everything from driving techno rhythms to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his frantic bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy 40-minute sonic journey. Submit to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become oddly liberating.

6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a newly appreciated treasure. Produced by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks deliver an unusually compelling fusion of the synthetic sound of early synthesizers and programmed drums with her ornate Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns mimics the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synthesiser melody parallels the classic sound of the harmonium on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Meanwhile, Latin-inflected grooves is prominent on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya features a up-tempo walking disco bassline. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered over a decade before the rise of Asian Underground music.

Number Five: The Mongolian Artist Enji – Resonance

From Mongolia singer Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to offer some of her most diverse music yet. Moving away from her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces veer from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of slow-burning number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a ensemble rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound is still personal, inviting the listener into the tender acoustics of her unique voice.

Number Four: Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – If There Is No Tomorrow

Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Turkish psychedelia pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group fuses the electric jangle of the electrified saz with drifting keyboard and classic soul melodies. It's a retro-70s aesthetic rooted in Yıldırım's powerful high register and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. But, on Turkish standards such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group finds dynamic new territory. They craft slinking, slow-burning grooves and powerful vocals that give a fresh, quirky spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

Number Three: Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Gregorian chants, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements converge on Colombian-born singer Lido Pimienta's extraordinary latest work. 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 theatrical counterpoint melodies of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. It is Pim