Friday Ukulele Links

Borrowing ukuleles from libraries. Sounds like a good idea to me. I wasn’t aware libraries took donations of ukuleles.

Ukeumentary featuring Daniel Dixon, Dominator and the world’s handsomest ukulele blogger.

MP3 Blogs:The Cop Shop has Broken Records’ Ukulele Song (get it before they sign to a major), Songs:Illionois has tracks from Rose Polenzani.

Frank Skinner pulled out his banjolele for a quick rendition of the Indiana Jones theme on Graham Norton. And he’s not the only comedian at it: Lee Evans. But when it comes to offensive ukulele comedians there’s no beating the Americans: Hawaiian Death Folk Presents.

Cincy Groove chats with Victoria Vox.

Word Up on Uker Tabs.

Hey, New York your country needs you (to contract type 2 diabetes).

Build yourself a ukulele lamp.

Steven Tyler with uke.

Move over kazoos, the ukulele has a new best friend.

Friday time waste: What’s your key signature?

If this is your first visit here, you can find the chords/tab in those posts by clicking on the song title in red.

Monday Exposure: Yoyoyo Acapulco

Yoyoyo Acapulco - Kamasutra Tsunami (MP3)
Yoyoyo Acapulco - Mexican Wolfgasket (MP3)
Yoyoyo Acapulco - The Fund Rug National Anthem (MP3) via NRK

I’ve been much enamored with Norwegian ukuleles since NRK was very nice about ukuleles and about Uke Hunt. I need to learn Norwegian as Google offers no translation of ‘oppgangstid’ and translates part of it as, “Here he publishes medical personnel, ukulele videos as well as notes and tabs to be a virtuoso.” (I’m pretty sure Dr Sparkles isn’t an actual doctor).

So, it’s time to pay it back and give some love to Norway’s greatest ukulele act. Again my translation skills have let me down, but here’s what I’ve been able to gather about Yoyoyo Acapulco:

- They’re not from Acapulco but Vestre Gausdal, Norway.
- They’re being harassed by an unfriendly UK record label.
- They make some lovely indie pop songs with ukuleles, cheap keyboards and kazoos.

Give me a few years to learn Norwegian and I’ll get back to you.

If you’ve got some spare Krone knocking around, you can buy their singles on their MySpace and you can download more tracks on NRK.

Monday Exposure: Entertainment for the Braindead

Entertainment for the Braindead - Sleep (MP3)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Resolutions (MP3)

When Earlyguard turned me on to Entertainment for the Braindead’s Hypersomnia, I was knocked out by it. It’s full of beautifully fragile, drowsy tracks. I immediately started badgering her for an interview. Unfortunately, that fell down the back of the internet. So when she released her latest EP Hydrophobia - which you can download for free on Aaahh Records - I took the opportunity to have another stab at it.

How long have you been making music? What got you interested in making music?

Since music was in some way everpresent in my life and especially in my teenage years I started to build up an intense relationship with the songs I listened to, it came naturally for me that at some point I wanted to try this myself.
I had a sparse but present musical education as a child, including recorder lessons and a children’s choir membership so I was not entirely unfamiliar with the aspect of not only consuming but also playing music, but it was only when in I picked up a borrowed guitar to teach myself a bit that I actually started the attempt to make my own humble songs. That was a first tentative step I made about four years ago.

What made you pick up the ukulele? What appeals to you about it?

Picking up the ukulele was a surprisingly spontaneous decision, mainly inspired by some travelling plans for summer and the urge to take a light, portable instrument with me. Later the travelling plans were abandoned anyway but getting to know the ukulele was an epiphany to me. It should remain an important point in my musical development. The ukulele conveyed the feeling of immediate familiarity, which is something I had never experienced on the guitar. It was utterly inspiring!

But also apart from the mere playability and direct relationship to the instrument as such, I also like the ukulele as an overall concept. It manages the balancing act between being unobtrusive, modest yet still extraordinary. A ukulele player may attract attention with this unusual choice of an instrument, but doesn’t necessarily claim to be taken seriously. The more surprising it seems to be for the audience to experience that this somewhat toy-like thing can in fact be a serious instrument. Besides, it also appears to have an interesting influence on social behaviour among fellow ukulele players - there’s a kindness within the community of ukulele players that I rarely have experienced elsewhere so far.

How did the name Entertainment for the Braindead come about?

I am really bad in coming up with names for anything. When I started this music thing and had to find a name for it, this expression, that I had heard a while ago, came to my mind. I already had the web domain anyway and it struck me that in a way it would also fit the music project - at least it might keep the audience’s expectations low. And I’d rather go for a slight hint of sarcasm than choose something that sounds too pathetic…

Do you start with a theme in mind for your albums or does it emerge as you went along?

Maybe it’s a mixture of both, to some extent. But there are times when my life circles around a certain theme or idea or I keep some sort of leitmotif in mind that helps me verbalize the experiences I made over a certain period of time. So basically it just happens, at least it’s not artificially constructed.

What’s in the future for Entertainment for the Braindead?

That’s a good question. I don’t know, I will see where this leads me. It’s funny because this development is turning into a recursive process… Up to now it was just my personal development influencing the musical one.. now it starts to work the other way as well, which is quite exciting for me. And since this has just begun, I have no idea where it might end.

One of my questions in the batch that never made it to you was, “Hypersomnia feels like a lonely album. How does that fit with the theme of sleep?” Unless I’ve got it wrong, Hydrophobia feels a lot less lonely. It’s not really a question anymore, just an observation.

But this is a good observation, yes.. Hypersomnia is in fact a an extremely self-centered, introverted album. The notion of sleep as it is dealt with in these songs is mainly a means of isolation. The sleeper avoids confrontation with the world, the sleeping body is the shell into which he withdraws. It’s mostly about resignment and escapism and thus, loneliness.

Now while Hypersomnia focuses on the Self, Hydrophobia is about the others. It’s basically the next step, going out and giving up fortresses and facing the world in all its ambivalence.

You can download Hydrophobia for free on Aaahh Records or buy a real-life spinning disc on her website.

Bushman Ukulele Video Contest 2008 and other Ukulelinks

The Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest 2008 is now open for entries. First prize is $1,000 on account to spend on Bushman ukuleles.

I was idly browsing the Duke of Uke’s long list of celeb clients. Amongst the ukenoscenti was the unexpected name of John Barnes. I hope he ukes better than he raps.

Sex! Drugs! and Ukuleles! have a competition to win a Pono ukulele.

J-Hob has been doing sterling work on Uker Tabs this week with Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control and The White Stripes’ Offend In Every Way.

New song from Craig Robertson: download it on Ukulelia.

Rod Thomas’s Same Old Lines is available on iTunes.

Joanna Lumley attends a ukulele funeral.

Mad Tea Party find that people used to ask, “‘What is that little thing you’re playing?’ These days, the majority of comments are like, ‘Oh, I’ve started playing ukulele!’”

Ukulele techno sucks according to Amanda Palmer. Alison Goldfrapp ukulele sucks according to eveyone (click the left most peacock eye).

Night of 100 Ukes: Thursday 16th October at Otto’s Shrunken Head NYC. Featuring Hot Time Harv, Sweet Soubrette and the Shipwrecks and, I assume, 98 others.

Uke tabs from Singapore and Malaysia.

Uke club in glamorous Hull.

This machine mildly annoys fascists.

WIUO Ads, Ukepedia, Rolling Cocunuts and other Ukelinks

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra are providing the music for, Kiwi merchants, Whitcoulls’ latest set of ads. You can watch two of them here and here. (Thanks to Mike for pointing it out).

Ukepedia: set a Wikipedia article to ukulele backing. Get involved here.

The Japanese ukulele magazine, Rolling Coconuts is bringing out a CD, Ukulele Now, with tasteful, understated artwork and tracks by Bosko and Honey, The Sweet Hollywaiians, IWAO and Ohta San. I’m also fairly sure the third track is Ayano Tsuji, if anyone can confirm that.

The forthcoming Beatles ukulele chord book I mentioned a few weeks ago has now forthcome. whilst a new film sets the record straight about George Formby’s towering influence over John Lennon. Although he was no good at cleaning windows.

Warren Buffett will play ukulele as the economy burns

Vote for Uni and Her Ukulele in the SF Readers Poll (via KDUS.

Make money on YouTube playing your ukulele. Word to the wise, I can tell you from experience the Amazon affiliate program sucks gigantic monkey balls.

How to order a pizza.

It All Started with Carbon Monoxide has an mp3 from The Pierces.

Looks like the ukulele is proper fashionable. Even the models are pouting at them and taking them for a good, old fashioned jump through the desert.

Will Grove-White and The Others

Will Grove- White & The Others - Sally Ann (MP3)
Via his website (where you can pick up two more free mp3s)

Will Grove-White has been the youngest (and handsomest) member of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain since he joined them in 1989. He has just put out a solo album Will Grove-White & The Others and kindly agreed to chat about lost ukes, Pebble Mill and strum holes.

How did you get involved with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain?

I joined when I was 16, in 1989. I’d not been tempted to take the guitar path at school and so I formed a little uke trio, playing 1920s and 30s stuff. I read about the Ukulele Orchestra in a newspaper and became a total fan. From then on I always went to see them play in this pub in north London, started pestering them for music after gigs, and when someone left the band I was asked to join. I started off as a quiet little lad, just strumming, but began singing after a year or so, and have ended up mostly squawking gibberish. I had to get the day off school do my first gig, we played ‘Chinatown, My Chinatown‘ on Pebble Mill at One, with Ronnie Spector watching us.

What was the impetus for your solo project?

In recent years, the Ukes has become more of a full-time job, making it harder for all of us to do other work, as the Orchestra’s demands grow and grow. I now find myself, at 35, a full-time Ukulele player - not something I ever thought I’d say, of course - I used to have a proper job. This album was really about seeing what it would sound like if I did something on my own, that could sit happily alongside the Ukes. The impetus was really from my wife, who kept telling me to get on with it.

What can we expect from your solo stuff?

Well, of course there are Ukuleles, but also plenty of other much maligned and overlooked instruments - the Musical Saw, Tuba, Melodica, Clarinet and Cardboard Boxes. I wish more mainstream musicians would cast their nets a bit wider in their choices of instruments. Bass, guitar and drums is a pretty tired formula. I think I can say it’s a good-time album, upbeat and optimistic - sort of Sid James meets Hoagy Carmichael and Tom Waits at a bluegrass concert.

What are your three favourite songs to play on ukulele?

Tricky question, but three I like are: Robert Johnson’s ‘They’re Red Hot‘, otherwise known as ‘Hot Tamales’, in C, really falls off the fingers; Syd Barrett’s ‘Here I Go‘ was the first song I worked out for myself on the uke; and at the moment I’m a big fan of the Ukes version of Limehouse Blues, a real mad strum-fest which should appear on an album soon I hope.

What’s in your ukulele collection?

I mostly play my Martin Ukulele which I got from a second-hand shop after I left my old Martin on the Tube (it was given to me by Ian Whitcomb). I’d fallen asleep and woke up at my stop, rushed off the Tube and only realised I’d left it when the train was gone. No-one ever handed it in, I always
imagine some guy picking it up and thinking, “Oh, a toy guitar! My kid will like this”… it was a pretty terrible day. Since then I’ve added some geared tuners (shock, horror!) to keep it in tune with the bashing I give it (I’m aiming to strum a hole in it buy 2010).

I recently got an Ohana uke from the Ukulele Shop which has a great sound for the price.

As spares we carry flat, black Bruko ukes, which we got from the eccentric Thomas Allander (Ukulelemannen) when we were in Stockholm. They’re Black Maple Ukes (S001) and are great for throwing in a suitcase. You can even post it to your friends through the letterbox. Other than that I mostly own old battered ukes that decorate the bookshelves, and even a few old banjo-ukes that get the occasional outing…

What advice do you have for the wannabe international ukulele superstars?

Pick some good fellow band members, who you can envisage sitting with for hours and hours on a bus, then a train, then a plane, then a bus, then another train, then another bus, and then share a room with. And never fart in the dressing room.

What can we expect from you and from the UOGB in the future?

At some point soon I’ll start more recording of my own, and get some live shows together with The Others. As far as the Ukes go, a hectic gigging schedule looms, lots of stuff in Britain, as well as Germany, Sweden and Austria, also some interesting new projects coming up next year. Right now
we’re in the final stages of assembling our first live CD - to be titled ‘Live in London #1‘ - which should be ready in the next month or two. I think it’s a real cracker, really captures the whole spirit of the band in a way we haven’t quite done on a CD before. And after that, of course, we shall all be enjoying a nice quiet Christmas together.

You can buy Will Grove-White & The Others on the UOGB site and visit his website here.

Friday Ukulinklinks

Not a great deal to report on this week.

Aldrine is doing live ukulele lessons. If you missed the first one, you can find it here. On a related note, I’m changing the official Uke Hunt review policy while I still have some friends left: I’m not reviewing anyone’s music. I’ll be sticking to the usual Monday Exposure type thing from now on.

Play Well With Others wants to know your favourite jam tunes.

Play the ukulele on your iPhone.

UAS Warning: Secured Premises.

Is playing the ukulele just for girls?

Stark Online has a track from the new Rio en Medio album.

Amy Crehore is having a sale on her ukulele t-shirt.

Colin Murray (Radio 1 DJ) plays the new Oasis song on his uke (put down the plectrum, Murray).

Pilar Diaz ukes for Obama.

Voodoo Marmalade

Voodoo Marmalade - Kiss (MP3)
Voodoo Marmalade - Faith/Ring of Fire (MP3)
Voodoo Marmalade - Ya Rayah/Mariachi
Voodoo Marmalade - Boi de Haxixe/Tahi (MP3) via hi5

It’s a familiar formula:

Step 1: Get a bunch of ukulele players.
Step 2: Play some cover songs.
Step 3: Have a good time.

Voodoo Marmalade - who declare themselves to be, “the first Portuguese ukulele band to exist,” play a number of songs that would fit into any ukulele orchestra/ensemble (Ring of Fire, Hit Me Baby…). What marks them out as something a bit more interesting is the way they throw in more recondite choices such as Zeca Baleiro’s Boi de Haxixe (best known, to me atleast, for Por Onde Andará Stephen Fry and Rachid Taha’s Ya Rayah. What do you mean you’ve heard Barra Barra?

Visit VoodooMarmalade.com and their MySpace.

Beatles Ukulele Chord Book, Ukulele Force and more Ukelinks

As if I didn’t blather on about the ukulele enough, I’ve gone and set up another ukulele site: Ukulele Online. The original idea came from all the Yahoo! Answers questions I was answering. I decided I was going to answer every single ukulele question that’s ever been asked online. Then I calmed down a little. So the blog is going to consist of Yahoo! Answers inspired questions and my rambling thoughts thereon. I put it on it’s own site because I didn’t want to clutter up Uke Hunt with it, a lot of it’s going to be obvious to Uke Hunt readers and it’s not the sort of thing you’ll want to subscribe to and read religiously - just there for people who need a particular question answered.

There’s a new Beatles for Ukulele chord book up for pre-order on Amazon (thanks to NashUkes)

The legendary Ukulele Force Star Wars cover album, is more talked about than it is listened to. It’s only available in Japan and if you can find an import, it’s massively expensive. But you can download a medley of clips here.

The new Hawaiian Edition of Ukulele Yes! is up. Thanks to Humble Uker for pointing it out (it’s worth subscribing for the excellent photos alone). It appears that, despite numerous attempts and assurances from the man himself, I’m still not on the mailing list. Epic fail, as I believe the kids say.

And speaking of cool uke photos.

Ukulele Underground find time to launch their latest competition to design a T-shirt in between days spent frolicking on the beach.

Rod Thomas’s Same Old Lines is now available for pre-order from Rough Trade. It’s going to the ukulele hit of the year. In five years time two months time it’ll be all like, “Noah and the what?” and stuff. So book now to avoid disappointment. You can also watch a fabulous but ukeless session here.

You’ve downloaded Jacob Borshard’s albums for free, now you can buy them on CD. And there’s a new album promised for November.

Pure Imagination chords on Uker Tabs.

Latest in the on going ukuleles/’picking up chicks’ debate: the Pick Up Artists are all playing the ukulele and The Be Arthurs get “a lot of [sexual] offers from 13-year-olds and 65-year-olds.” When I start my ‘pick up artist’ blog I think I’ll name it after this ukulele act.

Ukulele chord designer needed (edit: not anymore apparently).

We’re challenged to a uke off.

Monday Exposure: Ukebucket

Ukebucket - Take On Me (MP3)
Ukebucket - No Rain (MP3) via Covered

Amber Nash’s uke videos are a regular UkeTube highlight. She’s now put together two albums with her band Ukebucket: an album of covers, Covered, which you can download for free and an album of originals, Bad Ukulele, which you can buy on CD Baby. Amber was good enough to allow me to subject her to some routine enquiries.

Ukebucket are a geographically scattered band. How did you get together?

Well, I’ve known Rikk since we were kids. He and my brother were in the same preschool class and were best buds growing up, so he was always around. When I was about 16 or 17, I was in a community theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Rushville, Indiana, and I enlisted Rikk to play lead guitar for the pit. I drove us back and forth so we got to know each other and we started jamming. We’ve been great friends since then. I met Barry…well…honestly, I can’t remember really how I met Barry. Sometime in college, which might explain why I don’t remember. I think he knew one of my roommates and we just kind of came together and started playing. Barry, Rikk, myself, and countless other random individuals have been jamming since we were all in the early years of college. Talk of an album has been bounced back and forth for several years, but we’ve only been really serious about it for the past year or so.

Why’s the album called ‘Bad Ukulele’ when it’s obviously very good ukulele?

Why, thank you! The name of the album is good proof that all three of us are pretty ridiculous. We really had fun making the music, recording, making the art, and just hanging around. I think I was just doodling and ended up with a rough idea of what the cover art is now. I remember that the phrase, “bad ukulele”, at the time, was kind of a running joke. I would say it often as a way to make excuses for my amateur playing:) I’m a second grade teacher, so I thought the ukulele in the corner was pretty cute. In all honestly, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. It’s just a combination of randomness, quirkiness, and a hearty passion for self-deprecation.

Do you ever get the chance to break out the uke at school [as a teacher rather than student]?

Yes! I do! The kids really like it. It’s a chance for me to get more comfortable making things up off the top of my head and a chance for the kids to be around live music. Last year we wrote a couple songs together. It was pretty cute.

How come everyone’s favourite Ukebucket song, Pig Latin, didn’t make it onto the album?

It’s so crazy how the songs that folks seem to like are the songs that I wrote in ten minutes. I should work with that. The songs on “Bad Ukulele” are pretty old, with the exception of a few. Most have been around for as much as 3 or 4 years, we just never really did anything with them. We wanted to finish this thing because we had been talking about it for so long. I think the only really new song on the album is “Who Are We” which was a part of Project 52. I’m currently working on more of a “solo” CD. “Pig Latin” will definitely be included on that, as well as other Project 52 songs. It’ll be more of a simple sound, mostly just me and a ukulele, and some harmonies.

What can we expect from Ukebucket in the future?

Well, because of the physical space between band members it’s difficult to perform together. We’re going to continue to send music back and forth, visit each other, jam, record, and so on. I’m going to work on a solo album which I had mentioned in the previous question. We are currently really focused on purchasing better recording equipment (for me, anyway) so that what we send back and forth can be more easily edited. Once those ducks are in a row, the Project 52 songs will be more collaborative. I did want to mention that Project 52 has dwindled as of late. Life happens, but it started out and remains a mostly personal project, to kick my butt into gear when it comes down to composing music. I’ve got several songs to hammer out, and they’ll make an appearance when the time is right. So, in the future, expect better quality and more frequent updates on the MySpace and YouTube site, a solo album, and, if everything goes well, a winter album consisting of mostly original tunes.

You can download Covered for free here and buy Bad Ukulele here and listen to more Ukebucket tunes on their MySpace.

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