The Ten Greatest Global Albums of This Past Year

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

Number Ten: Sarathy Korwar – There Already Is Beauty

The concept of a 40-minute, uninterrupted piece built on repetitive drumming could sound like it isn't the most accessible listening experience. Yet, south Asian percussionist and producer Sarathy Korwar converts this driving beat into a hypnotically captivating work. Leading an trio of three drummers, Korwar crafts a complex percussive language across the record's ten parts. The work references the phasing techniques of Steve Reich combined with traditional Indian musical phrasing, each grounded in the recurrence of a ongoing, pulsing motif. The longer one listens, this refrain begins to emulate the trance-inducing cycles of devotional music, luring the listener further into Korwar's distinctive percussive realm.

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

After an long absence, Arab singer-songwriter Yasmine Hamdan returns with a melancholy set of songs. It continues exploring the Arabic-language, dub-tinged sound that made her a staple in the region's indie music scene since the 1990s. Hamdan's vocal delivery is soft and introspective, delivering delicate melodies over the string arrangements 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 quivering, yearning vibrato over electronic lines with North African flavors and rattling electronic percussion. The album's sound is sparse and understated, yet this simplicity provides the perfect canvas for Hamdan's expressive songwriting to resonate. The album proves to be truly deserving of the long anticipation.

Number Eight: The Mexican Producer Debit – Slowed Down

From Mexico producer Debit excels at haunting reimaginings of archival audio. For her new album, Desaceleradas, she zeroes in on the 1990s variant of cumbia rebajada – a slowed, dubby take of the shuffling Latin American dance music genre. Debit drags this sound even further, processing its characteristic synths and off-beat rhythm via sheets of sludge and noise to produce a novel, menacing rhythm. Sometimes ambient and uneasy, Debit transforms the celebratory party music of cumbia into a enduring, ethereal afterimage.

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

Sensory overload is the key term for the music of Brazilian producer Kaique Vieira, who performs as DJ K. Pioneering his own genre of "bruxaria" (witchcraft), Vieira piles a cacophony of sirens, explosive bass tones and screamed lyrics on top of the enduring Brazilian dance style of baile funk. This emulates the driving sound of urban celebrations. On his new record, Radio Libertadora!, Vieira ramps up the ferocity, throwing in everything from techno kick drums to samples of the Islamic call to prayer into his unruly bruxaria mix. The result is a notably hyperactive and punishingly loud 40-minute listening experience. Give in to the noise and Vieira's brash productions become strangely liberating.

6. The Singer Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Disco Punjabi

Religious vocalist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra's early-80s release of disco beats and traditional Punjabi tunes is a rediscovered treasure. Recorded by her son, music producer Kuljit Bhamra, Punjabi Disco's ten tracks present an unusually captivating blend of the sharp sound of 1980s synthesisers and drum machines with her fluid classical Indian singing style. Drum machine patterns mimics the undulating tones of the traditional drums, while synth lines parallels the traditional sound of the reed organ on tracks such as Pyar Mainu Kar. Elsewhere, Latin-inflected grooves takes center stage on Soniya Mukh Tera, and Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya channels a fast-paced 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 latest record, Sonor, builds upon her jazz-influenced sound to present some of her most diverse music so far. Stepping outside her background in traditional Mongolian "long song" singing, the record's selection of pieces range 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 sprightly, funk-tinged cover of the 1980s Mongolian classic Eejiinhee Hairaar. Utilizing a live band rather than her usual setup of guitar and bass, Sonor's sound manages to stay intimate, inviting the listener into the warm soundscape of her distinctive voice.

4. Derya Yıldırım and Her Band – If There Is No Tomorrow

Inspired by the psychedelic tradition of Anatolian rock established by groups such as Moğollar, Turkish-born, Germany-based singer Derya Yıldırım's third record alongside her group merges the distinctive buzz of the electrified saz with woozy 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. However, on classic Turkish songs such as the folk tune Hop Bico and 60s classic Ceylan, the group reaches lively new territory. They create sinuous, slow-burning grooves and soaring vocals that give a fresh, off-kilter interpretation to the Anatolian psychedelic style.

Number Three: The Colombian Artist Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Sacred music, Czech harpsichord folksong and symphonic arrangements merge on Colombian singer Lido Pimienta's stunning latest work. Arranging music for the 60-piece 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 rhythmic reggaeton-inspired beats of the woodwind-heavy El Dembow del Tiempo. Yet, it is Pim