This 10 Greatest International Records of This Past Year

Looking back on the musical landscape of global music that defied expectations. Here is a countdown of ten remarkable albums that defined the year in music.

10. Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already

An album consisting of a single, extended movement of cyclical percussion could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. Yet, Indian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar turns this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating album. Leading an group of three drummers, Korwar develops a dense percussive vocabulary throughout the record's ten parts. The work draws from the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, all anchored in the reiteration of a ongoing, thrumming figure. As the album progresses, this refrain starts to mirror the hypnotic repetition of ritual music, pulling the listener deeper into Korwar's singular percussive universe.

9. The Lebanese Artist Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget

Following an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a mournful collection of songs. The work builds upon the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that cemented her status in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's voice is quiet and thoughtful, singing delicate melodies atop the string arrangements of a track like Hon and the rolling trip-hop beat of Vows. On livelier tracks such as Shadia and Abyss, she uses a wavering, yearning vocal technique over electronic lines with North African flavors and skittering electronic percussion. The production is sparse and restrained, yet this minimalism provides the perfect setting for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to shine through. The album proves to be that justifies the wait.

Number Eight: Debit – Slowed Down

From Mexico producer Debit excels at uncanny reinterpretations of archival audio. On her most recent project, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 90s style of cumbia rebajada – a decelerated, dubby interpretation of the shuffling Latin American musical style. Debit slows this sound even further, processing its signature synths and off-beat rhythm via layers of distortion and hiss to produce a novel, menacing rhythm. At turns atmospheric and unsettling, Debit transforms the joyous party music of cumbia into a lasting, ghostly echo.

Number Seven: DJ K – Radio Libertadora!

Maximalism is the operative word for the output of São Paulo producer Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K. Coining his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira stacks a onslaught of sirens, explosive bass tones and shouted lyrics on top of the classic Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This recreates the energetic sound of favela street parties. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the intensity, incorporating everything from four-on-the-floor techno beats to the sound of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a particularly hyperactive and overwhelmingly noisy forty-minute sonic journey. Give in to the cacophony and Vieira's brash productions become unexpectedly liberating.

6. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Punjabi Disco

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's record from 1982 of disco music and Punjabi folk melodies is a rediscovered masterpiece. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an strikingly engaging blend of the metallic sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her fluid Indian classical singing style. Drum machine patterns echoes the wavelike tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines parallels the traditional 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 channels a fast-paced disco bass groove. It's a dancefloor fusion delivered more than ten years before the Asian Underground explosion.

5. The Mongolian Artist Enji – Sonor

From Mongolia vocalist Enji's gentle new release, Sonor, expands on her jazz-inflected sound to present some of her broadest music yet. Stepping outside her training in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's 11 tracks travel from the gentle Norah Jones-esque melodics of downtempo number Ulbar to the German spoken-word lyrics and trilling guitar lines of Unadag Dugui. The album also includes a sprightly, funk-inflected cover of the 80s Mongolian pop hit Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her standard setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay personal, pulling the listener into the tender acoustics of her singular voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – Yarın Yoksa

Channeling the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock pioneered by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's new album alongside her group fuses the metallic twang of the electrified saz with drifting Mellotron and R&B-inflected lines. It's a nostalgic vibe grounded in Yıldırım's strong falsetto and influenced by producer Leon Michels' analogue tape sound. Yet, on Turkish standards such as the nursery rhyme Hop Bico and 1960s song Ceylan, the group reaches vibrant new territory. They develop sinuous, downtempo grooves and lifting vocals that give a novel, unconventional spin to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

3. The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and orchestral strings merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's remarkable latest work. Arranging music for the sixty-member 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 dramatic interweaving lines of Aún Te Quiero and the syncopated dembow rhythms of the brass and woodwind-led El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim