Poopy Lungstuffing, Rod Thomas, Hailey Wojcik: Uke Videos

I had a nightmare time deciding which video to feature on the front page this week. I couldn’t decide between Rod Thomas’s ukulele pop, the eagerly anticipated – by me at least – return of Hailey Wojcik and Poopy Lungstuffing’s cover of The Kink’s Oh Demon Alcohol (many times better than the pretty terrible original). [Read more]

Friday Links

A series of video tutorials on strumming in French – but you’ll get the idea (thanks to Jeff for the heads up).

Midnight Ukulele Disco has come up with another winner this week with a session from Hailey Wojcik.

John Harris continues The Guardian’s championing of the ukulele. Apparently, Morrissey was a big fan of George Formby and The Smiths edition of The South Bank Show kicked off with Formby (and Morrissey is officially the only man ever to be more northern than George Formby).

Harris’ article also mentions the View whose lead singer, Kyle Falconer, this week turned up with uke. He arrived onstage to fill Amy Winehouse’s high-heeled shoes to sing Valerie with Mark Ronson. You can watch the whole performance here (the uke makes an entrance at about 1 hour 10 mins).

The ‘ukulele kills the recorder’ story trundled on and even made it onto Have I Got News For You.

Grab an mp3 of Jens Lekman doing a ukulele version of Your Arms Around Me (as well as other tracks) on False 45th.

Check out the completed Hula Girl and her tiny uke on Leeward Lounge.

Princess Maxima of the Netherlands gets the gift of uke (click on ‘NA’ for the big action).

No one will ever know.

A panda playing the ukulele.

U is for ukulele.

Free Ukulele MP3s on eMusic: Part 1

eMusic is my favourite place to get music (and the only place I download music online). You might have noticed from the blog that my taste in music is for modern indie and classic old-school songs – which is pretty much the eMusic catalogue. For those who don’t know, it’s a subscription service – you get so many downloads per month – and they cover independent record labels (so stay clear if you’re into James Blunt and the Crazy Frog).

Since I started subscribing (well over a year ago) I’ve been adding to a list of ukulele tracks on eMusic. There are some big, popular acts there like Magnetic Fields (US only), James Hill, Beirut, IZ and George Formby; as well as many unusual and obscure sounds such as Malaysian ukulele and hip-hop ukulele. So, if you’re a subscriber, chow down and use up this month’s allocation.

If you’re not a subscriber, you don’t have to miss out. You get 25 downloads for free when you sign up, after which you can cancel before they grab any of your money. So here’s a list of the 25 essential ukulele mp3s you have to get from eMusic.

James Hill

1. Skipping Stone
2. Uke Talk
3. One Small Suite for Ukulele Part I

[youtube 7sTBSVuuiYM]

James Hill is THE best ukulele soloist around at the moment. There’s no competition. He’s incredibly technically adept but he never falls into the trap of sounding like a robot as some others do. His album A Flying Leap is on eMusic and, to be honest, you need it all.

Hailey Wojcik

4. Nabakov’s Butterfly
5. Bad Modern Art
Indie chanteuse, Hailey Wojcik caused a bit of a stir in ukuleleland recently with her track Nabakov’s Butterfly getting a mention on Ukulelia and a spin on UkeCast and I’m happy to report the album lives up to the promise. Even the non-uke tracks are fantastic. Check out Dinosaur Bone.

The Kalima Brothers

6. Stars and Stripes
A rollocking version of this tune. The best I’ve ever heard on the uke. And there have been a few.

That should get you started. Stay tuned for the rest of the list or skip ahead and check out my list of ukulele tracks on eMusic.