Sophie Madeleine – The Rhythm You Started (Chords) I need your opinion. In the chord chart I’ve put the chord names in red so it’s easier to spot them amongst the lyrics. Is it worth doing it in future? Or does a more calming blue look better(display purposes only – it’s not quite right)? Let […]

Some videos I watch and my critical faculties are screaming out that I shouldn’t feature a video but they make me giggle so hard I can’t resist (henceforth to be known as ‘oh, I wanna suck ’em and put ’em in my mouth’ songs). Two such videos this week. At the more acceptable end this […]

One of the many joys of YouTube is being able to find demonstrations and reviews of some of the more recent or more obscure ukes. Here are a few I found to be of interest: – Solid-body electric ukes are a difficult thing to get right. I haven’t tried one that’s really nailed it. I […]

Radio Ukulele.fr has a lovely selection of tunes (in the right-hand column). Highlights include Ohta San, Jesse Kalima and The Old Blind Mole Orkestra. I confess, I’m completely addicted to the ShayTards. And now they have a ukulele theme tune. Atomic bomb responsible for ukulele revival. German take on the ukulele revival. Nice to see […]

I went to see the Black Keys last week and they were incredible. They’re at the perfect place in their career. They’ve got an extensive enough back catalogue to provide a set with no flat moments but they haven’t got to the stage where they’re just plodding through the songs until it’s blue M&M time. […]

It used to be that Asian-made ukuleles were all hastily slapped together and shipped out as cheap and quick as possible. But that is changing with the likes of aNueNue in Taiwan putting quality at the top of the priority list. Now Maestro, a guitar maker in Singapore, has moved into ukuleles and is making […]

Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over This line in the NYT review of the Ukes’ performance at got up my nose a little: Perhaps because the ukulele has long been treated as a four-string mini-guitar for amateurs, only a handful of ukulelists have achieved much renown… But the more I thought about, […]

It might be down to busyness or my clocks-going-back blues, but this week’s selection is shorter than usual. But the videos I did find, I very much enjoyed. Those videos include E 4 Echo making excellent use of a uke/cello combo and doing so while looking dapper, Tokyo Police Club breaking a string, and a […]

The 2011 uke festival lineup is starting to take shape. The London Uke Fest is moving from a one-day, act-focussed event to a three day, strumalong and campout. And are changing the name to the London UkeyLove Festival. The organisers are looking for your feedback (they lost me at camping). A new festival on the […]

Sonic Boss Level (Game Gear) (Tab) I think I’m pitching at a very narrow audience with this one. As it happens, I don’t have any memories of this tune either – never had a Game Gear. I came across it because I’ve recently grown an obsession with 8-bit music. And Sonic has some serious tunes […]