Ukuleles on Netflix: Friday Links

Howlin’ Hobbit has had his ukulele stolen. It’s a custom Glyph soprano ukulele. It’s a one of a kind so if you spot it get in touch with him. It looks like this but with more wear.

Ukuleles on Netflix

I’ve watched a few movies featuring ukuleles to various degrees (they’re all on US Netflix because that’s the only good one). If you’ve got any other suggestions leave them in the comments. In decreasing order of ukulele-centricity:

– Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings: I was worried there was going to be too much Jake-talk (“If everyone played the ‘ukulele there’d be no war” and that) but there’s very little of that and a lot more of Jake’s personal life than I was expecting. Being so personal it gets his philosophy on music across much more effectively than his speeches. I’m not the biggest Jake fan but I really enjoyed the movie and found it very affecting towards the end.
– Austin to Boston: Ben Lovett off of the Mumfords takes a bunch of folky acts on the road: The Staves, Ben Howard, Bear’s Den, Nathaniel Rateliff and Gill Landry (off of Old Crow Medicine Show). Being hipsters, they do it in the most impractical way possible. There are some great bits but it’s very frustrating. Lots lovely music interrupted by pretentious jibberjabber. I don’t know why you’d talk all over The Staves telling us how good their harmonies are when you could just shut up and let us hear it for ourselves. Worth it if you’re not a fan of the new folkies. Otherwise steer clear.
– The Dirties: I loved this film. If you’re into low-budget indie movies I recommend watching it without reading anything about it. Other than the fact that Kate and Janelle pop up for a quick ukulele cameo.

Ukes

– 13 foot long ukulele for sale.
– Makala Waterman ukulele from Kala (everytime I see that I misread it and expect this).
– BanjoUke SideKick.
– Double neck electric ukulele and coffin uke.

New Releases

– New Keston Cobblers Club record Wildfire.
– Helen Arney sings her sciency ukulele songs on the new Festival Of The Spoken Nerd DVD.

Videos

– Aquila strings light up under UV light.