tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20526390688459556392012-02-16T15:35:19.123+01:00Fresh eclectic music hip hop jazz blues salsa dancehall reggae Bollywood filmi soca rai fado grime bachata timbaMr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-79478797817097758212012-02-07T23:30:00.041+01:002012-02-07T23:30:00.590+01:00

Ideas: Album: Azucar Negra - Andar Andando Album: Lewis Taylor - Lewis Taylor Album: Corinne Bailey Rae (1st) Album: Morelenbaum2 & Sakamoto Album: Kano Album: Blue Bossa Album: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Musst Musst Album: Luiz Bonfa - Solo In Rio Album: Roots Manuva - Brand New Second Hand Album: They Call It Murrrda Song: James Brown - Make It Funky Song: Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa Song:

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-12347371575992719352010-06-05T21:50:00.000+02:002010-06-05T21:50:43.171+02:00

This weekend I suddenly realized that none of the five updates in the first week of Likeable Music featured any Jamaican music. It's a bit unlike me, because while I know and like a lot of different music, my desert isle disc would probably be something Jamaican. The classic ska and rocksteady of the sixties, the reggae and dub of the seventies and the dancehall and reggae of the eighties

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-85695146700706062802010-05-04T21:51:00.001+02:002010-05-04T23:13:45.262+02:00

In the immortal words of Public Enemy: I got a letter from the government* The other day I opened and read it It said they were...Well, it said they were keen to inform me that the way I present music in my blog postings meant anyone can right click the songs and download them. They weren't too keen on that, and as a warning shot they had one of my blog postings removed (the one about the

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-62408574052052225712010-04-25T14:05:00.004+02:002010-04-25T14:10:01.601+02:00

Jamaican music has always been known for innovative use of previously recorded music, be it recording versions of American or British hits, giving Jamaican music the dub treatment or recording new vocals over old instrumental riddim tracks. The last couple of years there has been a couple of examples of a new way to recycle old songs - laying new vocals over remixed classics. In 2002, Mark

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-32368325368333399802010-04-11T21:23:00.001+02:002010-04-11T21:24:46.706+02:00

Imagine a parallel universe where John, Paul, George and Ringo were born in Kingston, Jamaica. Maybe they would have started off as a ska group, developing up through rock steady and reggae. And maybe they would have kept the band together for long enough to link up with King Tubby and take part in the creation of dub music. And (heretic alert!) maybe that version of The Beatles would have

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-76052414251355686142010-03-18T07:41:00.000+01:002010-03-18T07:42:02.290+01:00

Written by Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come was released posthumously in 1964. Like in all of Sam Cooke's music, the gospel roots of soul music are very audible in the song. Where his earlier music had been sweet, polished songs about innocent love, though, the lyrics of A Change Is Gonna Come were a stark look at the racial segregation of early 1960's America. I go to the movie and I go

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-41287237957051526512010-03-15T08:00:00.007+01:002010-03-16T19:32:54.570+01:00

The first time I heard Ana Moura singing fado was, of all places, in a restaurant. Or to be more exact, in the Lisbon fado house Sr. Vinho. A fado house is basically a restaurant where the main attraction is live fado music. During and after the meal, a fado singer and two or three guitarists take their place between the tables and play a set. In one night, there are maybe three to five sets

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-38658552279594468882010-03-11T08:00:00.002+01:002010-03-16T19:38:40.605+01:00

London based General Levy started off in the early nineties as a dancehall deejay. Around 1994 he became one of the leading MC's of the burgeoning jungle scene, a musical genre that would later transform into drum 'n' bass. He is easily recognisable through his rapid-fire vocal delivery and his inventive use of breathing sounds between words. Just check the beginning of the first video to see

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-81705233124419188942010-03-08T00:55:00.007+01:002010-03-16T19:37:56.417+01:00

For a long time, the only Brazilian music I knew was the bossa nova of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud & João Gilberto and Stan Getz. Everything after 1965 was just a big dark spot. Then around 2000, I suddenly discovered what an abundance of music Brazil had to offer. One one hand, there were artists in the bossa nova tradition like Luiz Bonfá and Jaques Morelenbaum. And then there were lots of

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-69041911882162745622010-03-04T08:00:00.028+01:002010-03-16T19:37:31.237+01:00

Great music doesn't come any fresher than this! Released only three days ago, UK artist Tinie Tempah's debut single Pass Out is guaranteed to blaze up the charts and cause mayhem in the clubs. Pass Out is a very energetic, kinetic belter of a track, with brilliant production (and guest vocals) by Labrinth. The track is basically electronic hip hop, with small bits of dubstep, grime and reggae

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-89159709040799186372010-03-01T00:20:00.009+01:002010-03-16T19:36:53.817+01:00

Sometimes it can be refreshing to find good music where you least expect it. For example, certain musical instruments tend to bring up bad connotations, and I want to use this post to prove that you can make likeable music with even the most notorious instruments. I'm pretty sure bagpipe would be high on most people's "instruments to avoid" list, making it the musical equivalent of public

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-51933156902044433762010-02-25T08:00:00.002+01:002010-03-16T19:35:44.018+01:00

Ever since her 1999 debut single Greatest Hit, Norwegian electropop artist Annie has been a byword for intelligent and catchy pop music. Actually, if they were to make a film called Catchy Pop Music, I'm pretty sure the soundtrack would have been made by Annie. The song I Don't Like Your Band is from her second album Don't Stop, released last October. With a driving, dancefloor friendly beat,

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-23749306271646071682010-02-19T08:00:00.013+01:002010-03-16T19:35:17.909+01:00

Band leader Willie Colón and lead singer Hector Lavoe recorded on the Fania label, the spearhead of the New York salsa explosion of the 70's. This song from their 1971 album Cosa Nuestra is one of the greatest New York salsas, and it's insanely catchy and danceable! So what better way to start the weekend than to put on this song, get in the friday mood, and maybe even dance a little bit.

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-3870314714754968142010-02-18T08:00:00.005+01:002010-03-16T19:35:05.996+01:00

In Bollywood, the soundtrack is essential to the success of a film. It is usually released a few weeks before the film premiere, and if the soundtrack is poor, people will think twice about buying tickets. The film My Name Is Khan, which premiered last weekend, is just about as anticipated as Bollywood films get. The Bollywood box office record for biggest opening day was beaten by 30%! The

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-40497690007048828982010-02-17T08:00:00.027+01:002010-03-16T19:34:53.575+01:00

Robert Johnson is a legend. Not just because he was a brilliant blues guitarist and singer, but also because the story of Robert Johnson is filled with more legends than facts. From just the dry facts, it's difficult to understand what is so important about him. He died in 1938 aged 27, and having recorded only 29 songs. In his lifetime, he wasn't really famous, and none of his songs were even

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-74573465940224803522010-02-16T07:20:00.009+01:002010-03-16T19:34:31.565+01:00

About ten years ago I was rummaging the web for new music, and came across a song with a comment next to it claiming it was "the best song in the world". The song was Reach Out For Me, and the artist was Roy Hamilton. And even though - or maybe even because - I had never heard of him, I decided to download the song to see what was so special about it. The intro sounds like run-of-the-mill 60's

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-64445095415866293322010-02-15T08:01:00.019+01:002010-03-16T19:33:24.620+01:00

A singer from the Cape Verde islands, off the western coast of Africa, Mayra Andrade has also lived in Cuba, Angola, Senegal, Germany, Brazil and France. And this varied background - especially the African and Brazilian part - is easily heard in her debut album Navega from 2006. I first heard of Mayra Andrade after she won the best newcomer prize in the BBC World Music Awards in 2008. I

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052639068845955639.post-5141084663246954902010-02-15T08:00:00.008+01:002010-02-17T08:38:49.509+01:00

These days you can listen to music wherever and whenever you want to - on the radio, your computer, your iPod, or streamed on the web. And the diversity and sheer amount of music at your fingertips is incredible. With all that music available, it's obvious that there's a lot of great music around that you've never heard about. But how do you find it? If you go jumping around the Internet looking

Mr. Likeablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17399495141476285746noreply@blogger.com0