UkeStar, Amanda Shires: UkeTube

12 Comments

1. JCMcGee October 30th, 2010 2:29 pm
   

   Is there any uke in the 1st song?
   There’s uke in the video…but in the song?

2. Woodshed October 30th, 2010 2:32 pm
   

   Jimmy: Yeah, loads. Not all of it very uke sounding.

3. JCMcGee October 30th, 2010 3:12 pm
   

   strum CHUNK strum strum CHUNK strum CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK CLOP…I can only watch the ‘allo ‘allo darlin’ with the sound down…though it is quite nice with the sound down!

4. Foinnse October 30th, 2010 5:21 pm
   

   I actually quite liked ‘allo darling”s I have to say, I don’t mind the ‘Chnks’. :) She also reminds me a little of “Scampi” the french uke darling. Just her looks thats all.
   I also quite liked Amanda Shires. She has an interesting voice. Pretty woman too, I seem to be saying that alot in regards to these video selections…
   Tommoo Yamaguchi was a very pleasant jazzy interlude too I thought, nifty bass-work too!
   Cheers, -F

5. Lorraine Bow October 30th, 2010 6:59 pm
   

   Jimmy,

   She turns them into Goblin Teriyaki. Who needs ukulele sounds. That’s effing hilarious! It’s a Risa, mine doesn’t sound much like a uke either, with an FX pedal. ;)

   How’s your tourettes?

6. Ron Hale October 31st, 2010 12:31 am
   

   Of two minds on UkeStar – Battle Song:
   What’s not to love about the music? But the
   videos are a different story. There is vitually
   zero narrative continuity, no story being told, just jumping around from one bit to another, and my interest quickly fades. As I told Jeff earlier in
   the week, I much prefer the making-of video,
   which is a lot of fun, to the edited music video versions.

   There does not exist in this or any other universe a being more put-off by repetitive, agonizingly annoying ukulele chunking than myself. How this torture ever became popular is beyond me, and I say it’s time to stomp it out whenever and wherever it shows its hideous face. But Allo Darlin’ has a very light touch and this is a very modest example, and doesn’t bother me much at all. There are videos, however, that make me want to dive through my computer screen and ram those four strings right up various orifices in the offenders’ offending selves.

   Always nice to see Khoi and Karla, of course, Al, but the notion that members of different bands joining together
   somehow constitute a “supergroup” is one I’ve never quite grasped. Are the original bands not super, just the new one? Are the band members not in the new group not super? There’s a nice short video of them recording hand bells, so I’m guessing this is for the new band’s recording.

7. Howlin' Hobbit October 31st, 2010 12:08 am
   

   I liked most of the bunch here today.

   The Allo Darlin’ song was yer basic indie pop, but she hit all the hooks. I liked the concept of the video quite a bit, with its cardboard props and such. Sort of like making the set sepia toned with the colors belonging to the actors. I was all set to dislike the dancing heart(s), but they caught me at the ping pong scene.

   Amanda Shires is quite quirky. I like that. A little early Dolly Parton creeping into her vocals, giving the tune a slight wash of country over its underlying creepiness. I like creepy too.

8. Woodshed October 31st, 2010 3:05 pm
   

   Foinnse: I barely looked at Amanda Shires. I was distracted by her guitar playing being House.

   Ron: I love the video as well as the music. Yes, it’s very campy but I think it’s hilarious.

   Hobbit: I really like the creepy edge to that song as well. Most of her stuff is more straight-forward country and not nearly as interesting.

9. mictoboy October 31st, 2010 8:20 pm
   

   Is the ‘Allo Darlin one a Cyndi Lauper cover? Cos girls certainly want to have fun

10. Woodshed November 2nd, 2010 4:26 pm
    

    micto: Zing! Yeah, spot on.

11. Sanford (andsong) November 3rd, 2010 4:42 pm
    

    Never gave much thought to the “chunk chunk” ukulele approach until now. I guess it makes sense if you look at the ukulele more as a “drum” than a “guitar”…

12. SamD November 4th, 2010 12:52 pm
    

    Sanford – for uke drumming, see the Bob Brozman video!

    I quite like chunking; as a not-particularly-proficient player myself, it’s a nice easy way to add a bit more texture to the tune. I think one of the things that sets the uke apart is it’s percussive quality, especially sops.

    Favourite is Jim D’Ville though. Beautiful tune.