Monday Exposure: Emily Ritz/Honeybody Moonbee
August 25, 2008
Honeybody Moonbee - Cough Syrup (MP3)
Honeybody Moonbee - Suction Cups (MP3) via MySpace
I’ve spent far too long trying to work out whether Emily ‘Honeybody Moonbee’ Ritz is the same Emily Ritz as the Emily Ritz who is the uke playing daughter of Lyle Ritz. I’m pretty sure she’s not, but if you’ve got better information I’m all ears. Whoever she is, she certainly knows how to write a captivating song.
Certainly, if there’s any Lyle Ritz influence on this music, it’s buried pretty deep. Honeybody Moonbee’s music is packed with low-fi ukulele riffs and freak folk vocals. Those vocals might make her a love her or hate her act. Personally, I love her.
Download more songs on her MySpace and listen to a pile more songs here.
Star Wars - Cantina Band
August 24, 2008
Cantina Band (Star Wars) (Tab)
I’m not sure if Andy was joking when he requested this one. Tabs are far too serious an issue to joke about. The first part of Cantina Band works quite well on the uke. Bars 7 and 8 are particularly uke-y.
As for the picking, for the most part I use my thumb on the G and C strings and index finger (picking upwards) on the E and A strings. Bars 9 to 14 are all strummed. I’m blocking the G string with the thumb of my picking hand in this part. It isn’t strictly necessary as the G works in there as well. What is necessary is blocking the E string for the last two notes of bar 10 (and bar 14). I do it by resting the tip of my index finger on the string.
Perhaps next Sunday will be a theme tune that wasn’t written by John Williams.
The Moonlighters, Hoagy Carmichael, Soko Ukulele Videos
August 23, 2008
This week’s pick of ukulele videos includes a performance by legendary songwriter Hoagy Carmichael (responsible for Heart and Soul, Stardust, Georgia on My Mind and many others). Other videos this week include The Moonlighters and a uke version of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Abe Lagrimas, Jr. that kicks the crap out of UOGB’s.
The Moonlighters - Boxcar with a View
Hoagy Charmichael & Debra Paget - The Japanese Sandman
Abe Lagrimas, Jr. - Smells Like Teen Spirit
The Cro-Magnons - Cro-Magnon Stomp
Bill Tapia & Mihana Souza - Cry Me a River
Taimane Gardner - Space Odyssey/Yankee Doodle Dandy
Zym - The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Ukulele T-Shirts
August 22, 2008
I’ve was knocking around on CafePress and was a little stunned how many ukulele T-shirts there are out there. CafePress lets anyone come along and design a t-shirt which is then produced to order. That means that quality varies a great deal. Here are a few t-shirts on there that caught my eye.
LeDomino
I’m sure I’m not the only one with a uke crush on the LeDomino. For now the closest I’m likely to come to owning one is wearing a t-shirt reminding me to buy one at the earliest possible opportunity.
I’m not sure why it’s referred to as “La Domino” on the shirt. Possibly a trademark thing.
Links
Dark
White
Women’s Dark
Child’s
Black Beauty Ukuleles
Another ’slap an ad on a shirt’ design. They appeal to me more than the sloganeering type shirts.
I’m completely unaware of any Black Beauty ukulele. The ad is a little ungrammatical: “This is a pretty, well-toned and big value.” But if someone has spent long enough staring at your left boob to notice that, you’ve probably already pulled.
Links
Ukuleles are Cool
Saying something is cool is like so totally lame and stuff. Nevertheless, that picture is cool.
Link
Uke the Whales
I think we all know by now that I’m a fan on the bad uke pun. And this is a particularly fine/terrible example.
Link
Other T-Shirts
Ukulele Hero
The Ukulele Hero t-shirt was very well received last time I mentioned it. There are also plenty of other Hero style T-shirts including Banjo Hero, Cowboy Hero and Kazoo Hero.
Jacob Borshard
Uke Hunt hero Jacob Borshard has a whole range of T-shirts for sale on Zazzle. Some of them uke themed, some of them not. There are a whole lot more ukulele t-shirts on that site, but they’ll have to wait for another week.
Tab-U-Learn, Humble Uker and other Uke Links
August 22, 2008
Buke has made a very welcome return to the net under the new guise of Tab-U-Learn. There are a bunch of exercises, tips and tabs, divided by difficulty, for baritone and low-G uke.
Jeff West, who regularly points me in the direction of uke stuff and contributed the Lars Larrson series to the blog, has set up his own uke blog Humble Uker Ramblings.
The War Ponies were rather less successful than Dubby Kirk in their appearance on The Gong Show. Unfortunately, the video has been deleted, but I remember a phrase along the lines of, “I’d rather whack my cock with an ax.”
Jupiter/I Vow to Thee My Country on Uker Tabs.
The New York Ukulele Ensemble wants ukulele marchers for the Art Parade on 6th September.
Teddy Thompson, son of Richard and Linda, performs a uke version of In My Arms. (thanks to Mary).
Ottawa Citizen doesn’t want you to mock the uke.
Six Eyes has an mp3 of Tut Tut’s Pins on Your Purse.
Zippy the Pinhead turns his back on ukulele fame. (Thanks to Pam).
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