A couple of Tahitian ukuleles up this week. The most impressive is this one carved into the shape of a bird. There’s also this soprano Tahitian ukulele – which you don’t see very often.

The Stagg Electric ukuleles I mentioned a while back are up for sale. Intended as Strat and Les Paul copies. They don’t quite pull it off.

The recession must really be hitting the uke collectors. Every week there seem to be more Martin ukuleles for sale. This Martin 2K obviously isn’t from a collector, but it’s very nice.

Two great photos I wish I knew the story behind:

– “Can you guide me in?” “Sure I’ll just put down my uke.”
– I don’t know what those girls are doing to that poor guy, but I want to hang out with them anyway.

It was only a matter of time: Obama ukulele dashboard figurine.

Rogaine: Makes dogs hump your leg.

The LA Times discusses the ukulele revival. But I’m not sure how Hester and Kitty would react to the UOGB being described as, “eight men in tuxedos.”

A video of an entire James Hill performance.

You can now get UkeFarm’s chord sheets on your iPhone.

J-Hob covers ukulele acts at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Argyle Smile’s Every Song on Uker Tabs.

I think this is the best repurposing of a ukulele I’ve seen. And she has some magnificent trophy fruit (which sounds like innuendo but isn’t).

Daily Growl has a couple of MP3s from The Second Hand Marching Band.

The ukulele bit on House.

Keith Moon ukulele.

Download

Another glorious slice of 80s cheese. The second single I ever bought was by Valen Halen (although it was Hagar era Halen). Which was something of departure from my first ever single: Chas ‘n Dave’s Snooker Loopy. If anyone thinks they’ve got me beat in the embarrassing-first-single stakes (or CD or download if you want to make me feel old), leave a comment.

Keep the chord stabs nice and short. In this example I add chnks on the beats to keep the rhythm going.

I’ve been promising these for a long time and you may well have seen a few of them crop up on various ukers. To be honest, the whole thing has been a nightmare. I’ve been looking at companies that print t-shirts and deliver them. And I’ve found that most of them are terrible. That’s why today is only half a launch of the t-shirts.

If you find yourself in North America, you can buy the shirts on Spreadshirt.

There are two designs: The Under-Bear and The Ukulele Hooters both designed by Art Grootfontein. As modelled by the delectable Jodi Mathews and the gorgeous Todd Baio.

They’re both available as skinny fit and relaxed fit. If you’re going for the skinny fit (by American Apparel) make sure you’re very generous with the size you select.

That’s the good news. The bad news is for anyone outside North America. The shipping from Spreadshirt will cost more than the shirt and that, in my opinion, makes them not worth getting. I’ve tried a number of other companies with no luck. The European Spreadshirt finds it impossible to print designs on a coloured T-shirt. Red Bubble took more than a month to deliver the shirts and the quality wasn’t good enough.

If anyone knows of a reliable service in Europe that will print T-shirts and handle orders and delivery, please, please, please let me know about it. Until I find something, you’ll just have to walk around topless.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand… I’m currently testing out Comboutique for the shirts in Europe. I can’t say whether they’re any good or not. But if you want to take a chance, you can buy them here.

Download

As you might have guess, there’s going to be a fair proportion of 80s cheese in the keyboard riffs for ukulele series. And it doesn’t come much more 80s than the theme tune to Beverley Hills Cop. The 80s must be the only time in pop music history that it was fashionable to be German.

Keep the notes in this one short and muted by resting the underside of you picking hand just in front of the bridge.

Kym Campbell – Back to You (MP3) via MP3.com.au
Kym Campbell – Rolls That Way (MP3) via Triple J

Australia has become a bit of a hub with folky singer-songwriters such as Angus and Julia Stone, The Waifs and Missy Higgins. And Kym Campbell very much fits in with that sound. Which is perhaps why she moved to Australia from Seattle before kicking off her music career. And, armed with a few ukulele songs, she seems to be doing well over there.

Visit KymCampbell.com

I do worry a great deal about keyboards coming into fashion again. If we tolerate this, it’s only a matter of time before we’re wearing shoulder pads, watching Dallas and having competitions to see who can spunk the most money up the wall.

Having said that, Daylight by Matt and Kim is a damn fine song.

Like Kids by MGMT, I’m playing the E and A strings with half-up strums.

This week’s videos include Ingrid Michaelson covering Bon Iver, Argyle Smile playing with dominoes, Tinyfolk, a girl called Jose, Watercolor Paintings and some adorable ukulele puppets. But this week I’m particularly taken with Tristen and Emily Ritz’s HoneyBody and the Moonbees.

One video that didn’t make the cut is this clip of Tiny Tim freaking out a room full of kids. “The whole world is drowning A-ho-ho ho-ho.”

Btw, if all the videos don’t show up then refresh the page. They are all there somewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

After getting my hands on a Kala soprano, I’m now a complete Kala convert. So I’ve now got two Kalas on my shopping list: Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps I’ve been distracted by the Ukulele Strums broo-ha-ha, but the links are looking a bit thin this week.

If this is what happens on all the trams there, I am moving to Toronto.

MP3s: Love.Stop.Repeat has Toad’s uke cover of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Tullycraft have Darren Hayman phoning it in.

This Star Wars uke video has the capability to destroy your mind.

Heregoesnothing by Nevershoutnever and 2 Atoms in a Molecule on Uker Tabs.

What Madeline Ava has written on the back of her ukulele.

What happens when a pirate covers 99 Red Balloons on uke?

Here’s a photo I’m fascinated by. Although I’m not quite sure why.