Florence & The Machine - 'Dog Days'
Ukuleles are funny little things, aren't they? They look like a guitar, but sound closer to a harp, albeit a quiet harp which is probably being strummed frantically by a busker in a rotating bow-tie. And did you know that the instrument George Formby* played wasn't technically a ukulele at all? It has the body of a banjo, you see, so the vibrations from the bridge (the bit near the strumming hand where the strings rest) travel down onto a drum skin, rather than a wooden sound-board, as is the case in a 'proper' uke.
People tend to refer to that instrument as a banjo-lele, to reflect its hybrid nature. There's also a banjo-lin (same idea, but with a mandolin), a banj-itar (guitar) and even a double bass version, although it would be quite a hard one to come up with a hybrid name for, that. My best guess would be banjass, which can't be right.
You may not think this is useful information, and you're probably right, but you can't deny that the humble uke is starting to make inroads into popular music. Specifically popular music played by alternative-type bands with an "and the" in their name. Step forward, Noah and the Whale, this applies to you.
Florence has abandoned the macho garage thrash of her last single - the brilliant - in favour of a more winsome, folky strum. But don't let the ghostly wails at the beginning fool you, she could still have Noah, the Whale and Goldfrapp (whose video she has pinched) with one hand tied behind her back.
And the reason for this is that Florence is blessed with an almost superhuman amount of spirit. She's like some kind of woodland queen surrounded by an invading army of nymphs, sprites, ogres, gnomes, pixies, fighting-badgers and otter-ninjas. As she howls a midnight tirade about the end of all bad things, they perform a complicated dance, and the leaves and berries around them begin to glow.
Meanwhile, local villagers are awoken by their pets making a hell of a ruckus, and they scratch their heads and stare off into the darkness, confused about the squeals and jibber they think they can hear over all the yowling.
That's the pets yowling, you understand, not Florence.
Anyway, great song. Great video. And a perfect vinegary antidote to all this festive sweetness.
*sigh* Wouldn't you just love to be the world's first professional banj-ello player?
Download: Out now
CD Released: December 1st
www.bbc.co.uk/music
(Fraser McAlpine)
* Ask your Great Nan.
Comment number 1.
At 29th Nov 2008, nungrove wrote:Just to clarify, the instrument on the Florence and the Machine tracks IS actually a harp, not a ukelele.
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Comment number 2.
At 29th Nov 2008, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Aw..and I did all that research too.
Still, can't be as annoying as spending money on an expensive harp, then recording it so it sounds like a ukulele!
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Comment number 3.
At 21st Jan 2009, UncleSpaceship wrote:Errr...been listening to Florence and the Machine and I find it hard to understand how you could mistake fantastic harp playing for a ukulele!?!
Even if your ears aren't up to recognising the difference, maybe you should think about doing some proper research before publishing.
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Comment number 4.
At 21st Jan 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:I remember reading, years ago, about a reviewer writing about one of John Lennon's solo albums, which he had been sent in double-vinyl, white-label form.
He wasn't massively taken by John's songs, but did offer gushing praise about the music on the flip side of each disc, which was, in both cases, a one note, 15-20 minute long drone.
He spoke of the note's simple, stark, beauty, he talked of the brave decision to intersperse pop music with the kind of electronic composition more familiar to fans of Karlheinz Stockhousen, and he praised Lennon's pioneering spirit.
The only trouble was, the discs he had been sent were test-pressings, and the music he claimed to enjoy so much was just a test signal, only there to make sure the cutting process had gone according to plan.
Luckily, everyone involved saw the funny side, realising it was just an innocent mistake.
And the moral of this story is...er...
Wait...it'll come to me...
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Comment number 5.
At 21st Jan 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:Oh yes!
The moral of this story is: Don't spell Stockhausen's name wrong.
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