The most interesting video this week is of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain being joined by Yusuf ‘Cat Stevens’ Islam for a version of Peace Train. You can watch the Uke’s other performance on the show here.
Also this week are GUGUG, Ukesysteemi (the 14-year old, Finnish, slightly fuckin’ awesome version of GUGUG) and the usual mix of old friends and new favourites.
Larrivee seem to have been abscent from the ukulele scene for a while but a rather cute koa Larrivee soprano has turned up on eBay. The last mention I could find was on Ukulelia about a limited run in 2004. Although it looks like they still have some in stock here. And it’s no wonder at those prices.
There’s always an imminent danger of self-bankruptcy when there’s a Lyon and Healy 5K Shrine up for sale.
An original of the much-copied Roy Smeck Vita Harmony ukulele.
A new Pono with an ebony body. I’m not too keen on that look myself.
Ukulele pin-up Ann Sheridan. Hubba, hubba. Swit-swoo. And so forth.
Keep up ukulele players’ well deserved reputation for kindness and generosity and sponser me for my part in the London Uke Fest’s record attempt. A big thanks to Jeff, Josh, Art and Chris(who was incredibly generous) for opening the pot.
My Fingerpicking Ukulele mini-course is looking a bit tired and will be taken down next Friday. So if you’re interested, get in fast. It might be resurrected at some point in the future – possibly as part of an ebook.
Fantastic Moustaches of the World ukulele: Front, Back.
Another Martin cropped up on Antiques Roadshow. Much more interesting than the last. It’s a one-off spruce top. If you can buy it for the appraised $4,000 bite his arm off – he is underestimating Martin collector’s craziness. (via Ukulelia)
MP3s: Craig Robertson covers Ukulelezo. Fong Songs has two MP3s from Ukulele Force including James Hill’s version of Cantina Band. Out the Other has a couple of JuNu tracks.
Exceptionally easy ukulele quiz. I got 100%, bitches. Although it’s not entirely to be trusted: “That’s right. The next largest is the concert, the baritone and then the tenor.”
The Beatles Fest is going after the same mass-ukulele record as the London Uke Fest. They tried the same thing last year and managed 28.
Supermodel Pania Rose plays naked ukulele. Not particularly well, but it would have been remiss of me not to mention it. And she lists her favourite band as Beirut. Keep her away from me. She’d fall in love and it would be one big hassle.
If you can’t wait until Monday to hear the studio version (also featuring the uke) you can stream the new album on MySpace (unless you’re in the US). Check out Pencil Full of Lead for more uke action.
Requested by Naomi (and I’m pretty sure Alice will be interested too)
The London Uke Festival is shaping up to be a really fun event. So much so I’ve been tempted out of my lair and will emerge, blinking into the sunlight, myself. As much as I know so far: Joe Brown is going to sign three ukes for charity, Pete Howlett will be making a uke from scratch in one day, Will from UOGB will be there (whether that’s in his official capacity I don’t know).
The event will include a mass ukulele world record attempt with, hopefully, more than 500 people strumming Sloop John B. The event will raise money for Cancer Research UK. If you’d like to sponsor me, you can register your donation on my Justgiving page. And please do because I want to win at charities raise some money for a good cause.
To complete the Ukulele Recordings EP trilogy. On the first few listens I thought this was the weakest track on it. But it’s grown on me a great deal since.
Like the other tracks on the EP, it’s in D tuning. But it works fine playing the chords in C-tuning. Although I would advise playing the similar chord inversions to those you would play in D tuning. So D would be 2225, F#m would be 6654.
Suggested Strumming
D U X (U)
The U in brackets is an up strum with the strings muted with your fretting hand.
There’s very little from the 1980s that I’m nostalgic for. The TV, fashion and music almost universally terrible. And the dominant format for music was the cassette. But my antipathy towards the cassette might be turned around by the uke-heavy tape label Lost Sound Tapes. I fired a few questions at LST honcho and uker Jon Manning to find out more.
Why set up a tape label?
I find tapes to be very accessible. They’re inexpensive to manufacture, they are much more durable than CDs + records, and cassette tape playback devices can be found for $2 – 10 at most thrift stores across the country. I sell Lost Sound Tapes cassettes for $3 + shipping and that includes a tape by James Rabbit that contains 86 minutes of music (two whole albums). My goal is to encourage people to release their own cassettes and show them that it is within their grasp as human beings. Every release has elements about them that are handmade: stamped construction covers, stamped or handwritten labels, sewn tape covers, etc.
There’s a high proportion of ukulele acts on the label, was that intentional or did it just turn out that way?
It wasn’t really intentional, it just turned out that my friends and I just happened to be playing ukulele. My father is originally from Hawaii and we always had ukuleles around the house but I didn’t start playing uke until 2004. I loved the fact that it only has 4 strings and how easy it is to hold.
You play the baritone yourself in Blanket Truth. What appeals to you about the bari?
Ah, the baritone ukulele is a brilliant instrument. It’s usually tuned DGBE, like a guitar, which makes it incredibly easy to play along with guitarists and bassists. It also means that the fingerings for baritone ukulele chords are the same as a guitar, so it’s a great instrument for musical beginners. If you can play baritone ukulele you can play a guitar. The baritone translates surprisingly well to rock music and I even play mine through a big muff distortion pedal often. It also happens to work out the best for my vocal range.
Tell us about the new ukulele compilation you’re putting together.
The ukulele compilation I’m currently working on is called “Ukulele, Mekulele, Wekulele”. It will be released by my label Lost Sound Tapes as a cassette tape. This is actually a sequel to the ukulele compilation entitled “Ukulele and So Can I” which contains 23 tracks of ukulele songs from uke novices and experts alike. “Ukulele and So Can I” features songs from Watercolor Paintings, Jordaan Mason, The Desks, and Tinyfolk, to name a few.
I’m taking open submissions for “Ukulele, Mekulele, Wekulele”. If you have a song that you would like to submit for consideration, please send a wav, aiff, or flac file to lostsoundtapes@gmail.com via a service like mediafire.com or mail a cassette or CD to Lost Sound Tapes / PO Box 45586 / Seattle, WA 98145. I’ll choose the tracks that fit together the best and notify everyone. The deadline is August 31st, 2009. Our first ukulele compilation, “Ukulele and So Can I”, is currently out of print, but I plan on reissuing it alongside the new one. Send me your best or weirdest tracks, originality certainly helps! Don’t be afraid.
Which ukulele acts should we be paying close attention to?
WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS: They are a brother/sister duo who play baritone ukulele, soprano ukulele, and harp. Really unique folk songs in a pop song format, most of their songs are under two minutes. I’m releasing a split 7″ for them on Lost Sound Tapes for their two month long national tour this summer with iji. It’s the first LST vinyl release and we’re very excited about it. The record is available on June 30th, but you can listen to the whole thing online now. If you can’t wait to buy the split 7″ they also just released a 7″ called “With The Light On” on Yay! Records.
ANTARCTICA TAKES IT: Dylan is from Santa Cruz, CA and has pop sensibility like none other. Most of his recordings feature a full band, but you can often catch him playing live shows solo. I was fortunate enough to see him play on a rooftop in Bellingham, WA this past April while Blanket Truth was on a mini-tour with Antarctica Takes It and James Rabbit (with whom Dylan plays drums) and my mind was completely blown. Great voice and sweet sweet melodies. He has a new single called “C + F” and I highly suggest you check it out, there’s also a new album in the works.
BLANKET TRUTH: I have a new album coming out this year called “My Keyboard / My Ukulele”. Half of the songs will be featuring a Casio keyboard that my grandma handed down to me years ago and the other half of the songs will, of course, feature baritone ukulele. Expect songs about ghosts, animals, and washing the dishes. Lately, we’ve been playing as a 3-piece – baritone ukulele, vocal percussion (beatboxing), and bass. We also have a CD, our first full length, called “Indoor Camping” and you can get ahold of it through the Lost Sound Tapes store.
It’s been four days and twenty hours since Peggy Sue got a mention on here. An oversight that must be rectified immediately.
Also this week is Fairport Convention (or what’s left of them) paying tribute to their ukulele heroes, Franny Deschanel’s best song yet, a bit of Justin Timberlake and plenty more. Read the rest of this entry »
They’re not available yet, but I’m already uke-lusting for a Kala UBass. Rigk Sauer has put up a couple of clips: Stand By Me, Tiger Rag.
It’s not often you see baritone Gibson ukuleles up for sale but here’s a rather handsome Gibson UB-1. Good to see they went with the guitar-style headstock rather than the more clunky ukulele headstock.
On the subject of lesser-seen baritones, here’s a baritone banjo ukulele.
Leolani have combined three of most hated design features into one hideous ukulele: dolphins, writing ‘Hawaii‘ on the instrument and the half-pinapple-half-not shape. It’s turning into a arms race between companies to see how many dolphins they can fit on a ukulele. Stop the madness before it kills us all.
Dusty Strings UkeFest in Seattle features Ralph Shaw, James Clem and Kimo Hussey. You’ll also be able to catch James and Ralph at the Portland Uke Fest along with others including James Hill and Victoria Vox.
Kiwi by Proxy has a podcast with members of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.
“Follow Ukey as he not only learns to play his ukulele, but becomes world famous and brings one thing to the world that everyone has wished for more than anything else!” Ukey and His Magical Ukulele
