Ukulelenurkka will be celebrating International Ukulele Day (August 23rd) in Helsinki with two days worth of top-notch gigs. Appearances from Ukulelezaza, Pete Howlett, Shelley Rickey and Scheidenbach. After I mentioned the Tay Zonday’s viral hit video Chocolate Rain in connection with this performance, WS64 produced a fantastic ukulele version of the song. Tay Zonday and […]

Of all the ten commandments, the one I find most difficult to live by is, “Thy shalt not covet thy neighbour’s uke.” I’ve often found myself browsing eBay or YouTube, ogling the ukes of others and contemplating harvesting the organs of my uglier children to raise the cash to buy one. But my moral compass […]

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain‘s latest album, Precious Little, contains a version of this song (made famous by Nancy Sinatra’s version on the Kill Bill Soundtrack) but they’re not the first to do it on the uke. Former Miss France, Mareva Galanter did a ukulele version on her Ukuyeye album (which combined two of […]

The Decemberists – The Chimbley Sweep (Chords) I can’t get enough of the Decemberists’ approach to lyrics. They are full of strange and threatening characters. It’s a mystery to me why murder ballads are dying out – we’re supposed to be living a culture awash with violence. Chimbley Sweep is a little more light-hearted (but […]

The 60th Edinburgh Festival Fringe kicked off at the weekend and – amongst the many desperate self-publicists wandering around in lurid, skin tight clothing – are a few ukulele acts. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Sugar Plum Fairy (mp3) My Baby Does (mp3) via UOGB The biggest names in the uke world appearing at […]

Tetris Theme Solo (pdf) I recently acquired a Fluke and ill-educated people have been confusing it with a balalaika ever since. I’ve given up trying to explain it to them and have learnt to play two Russian sounding tunes on it. The first bit of this video is the tune from Gogol Bordello’s Not A […]

So, so, so many top notch ukulele videos this week.

Uke Hunt has a MySpace. Friend me up and join the Uke Hunt endorsed Ukulele Nation. Lyle Ritz and Roy Sakuma chat on NPR (via Ukulelia). The C-FleaPO & R2-Flea2 Flea ukulele doesn’t exist. But Darth Vader plays uke. Howlin’ Hobbit is dishing out bi-weekly uke tips. An ukulele has finally made an appearance in […]

You’re a fan of an Icelandic psychedelic-folk ukulele trio who released one album in 1964 and promptly split up. They had a stunning uke song that you have to play. The band and their oeuvre are entirely unknown to Google and the massed ranks of Intertubeland. What do you do? I’ve been asked about this […]

The Magnetic Fields – If I Were A Rich Man (Chords) Many of Stephin Merritt’s songs have a strong musical theatre style to them. He has put out an album of showtunes and has said that he wants to write 100 Hollywood musicals. So it’s no great surprise to hear The Magnetic Fields covering a […]