10 Favorite World Music Albums Of 2013

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10 Favorite World Music Albums Of 2013

World music” can mean pretty much anything. French club tracks. Field recordings captured on remote Pacific islands. Bollywood soundtracks. Argentine tangos. Or, for that matter, pop, traditional, classical or religious music from anywhere on the globe — as long as the lyrics aren’t sung in English and the instruments aren’t “Western” (unless they are). Admittedly, I’ve assigned myself a quite wide (and ultimately frustrating) purview over nearly 20 years of covering world music for various outlets.

But I like to see the positive repercussions of tagging art in such impossibly vague ways. It means that I have all the more good music to dig into, even if I never hear a fraction of what’s out there and worth hearing. So I invite you to consider this list of 10 albums I’ve really enjoyed this year as simply a jumping-off point for discovery.

Artist: Mulatu Astatke
Album: Sketches of Ethiopia
Song: Hager Fiker

The latest project from the man dubbed “the father of Ethio-jazz” — vibraphonist, pianist, keyboard player and arranger Mulatu Astatke — will make you swoon. Astatke turned 70 this year, but “Sketches of Ethiopia” is, astonishingly enough, his first release on an international label. He creates sublime textures for his 12-piece band. Take, for example, his enchanting version of a traditional tune, “Hager Fiker,” with burnished brass set elegantly against brightly chiming vibes and other dark, rolling percussion.

By Anastasia Tsioulcas