pepamahina
Well-known member
I got my copy of the very first issue of “Kamuke” ukulele magazine a few days ago. Here’s my review:
First Impressions:
I got this cute little envelope in the mail with a hand lettered address and some pretty Australian stamps and thought “hmmm, neato, what did I order from Australia?” Then I was surprised when I opened the envelope because I was expecting something a little bigger. The magazine is 8.25x6 inches, which is about half the size of a sheet of paper. So it’s smallish, but it is definitely fun to have something you can actually hold in your hands and flip through, as opposed to reading something online. It gave me that happy feeling that I get when I get something nifty in the mail.
Front and Back cover:
There has already been quite a bit said about the cartoon on the cover of the magazine so I will not rehash any of that here. See:
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...the-market!!-Woooo-Hoooo!!!!&highlight=kamuke
For those of you (like me) who dislike the cartoon, I'm sorry to say it appears in a smaller form on the back cover, and on the inside back cover of the magazine as well, incorporated into the Kamuke title logo. Based on the way it is positioned with the title, I fear that "Slutty Sue", as I've taken to thinking of her, is meant to be the magazine’s permanent mascot. Here's hoping they change their minds.
Editor’s Grass Shack:
There is a photo of the editor, Cameron Murray, grinning in his fedora introducing the magazine. He says it is “about time someone produced a quality periodical devoted to all things uke, and this is the result.” This will be news to the producers of “Ukulele Player” magazine in particular, who have been producing a “quality periodical” for some time now that is online (and is free).
Feature Article:
The feature article on Jim Beloff is the longest article (a few pages) and, I think, the strongest. I learned some things about Jim and Liz and about Flea Market Music that I hadn’t already read elsewhere, and Jim did a nice job of answering Cameron’s questions at length. Overall, I think it’s a very good interview.
Construction Zone:
This part of the magazine contains an interview with Paul Okami of Koaloha, and is meant to be the first in a series of interviews with ukulele makers. The text and graphics are nicely laid out with some “behind the scenes” pictures of the shop at work. I liked this article as well.
Club Corner:
This article features an article with John Penhallow, one of the founders of the Balmain Ukulele Club in Sydney Australia. I personally have a limited interest in reading about other people’s clubs. They can be real yawners if you don’t know the people in the article and the club is somewhere distant. However, the questions were steered towards things like “keys to running a successful club” and “biggest challenge”, which may be useful for people who are involved in clubs or are interested in starting one.
Uke in Focus:
This is a part of the magazine I think will really appeal both to those afflicted with “UAS”, or" ukulele acquisition syndrome", as well as those of us interested in historical ukes. This issue features a short article and lots of photos of a Martin Taropatch.
Talk Stories
There are two interviews with two women ukers; “Uni and Her Ukelele”, who apparently doesn’t have a real name (or at least it is not mentioned here) and Rose Turtle Ertler. It is this section of the magazine that made me a little disgruntled. First, how can you do an article on Uni and barely mention her custom Pohaku ukulele by Peter Hurney? See:
http://pohakuukulele.com/pages/uni.html
Instead of pictures of Uni and her awesome uke, we get a head shot of her looking away from the camera that very artfully spotlights the back of her head. Even the ear that’s she has turned towards us is in shadow. So, no ukuleles here, but we are given a little boxed list of Uni’s “Favourites” that reminds me of a Playboy bio and includes her favorite color (Pink), animal (donkey), Food (sushi) City (San Francisco), and Word (Ding!). Seriously? No custom Pohaku but we know Uni’s favorite color. Yikes! What, no measurements? This little box of stupid questions is repeated for the interview with Rose (Blue, “My dog Scruffy”, vegetables, Melbourne, and lentiginous). I noticed that the men who were interviewed in this magazine were spared these questions. To be fair, the interviews themselves are fairly good as artist interviews go, and I hadn’t heard of Rose here in “The States” so I’m looking forward to checking out her music which she describes in the article as “strange pop” or “wonky folk”. But I have to ask, why take a picture of Rose holding two ukuleles cases? Where are the ukes, man?
Cinematic Strumming
This section of the magazine highlights ukuleles in film, and this month features Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like it Hot”. It is visually well laid out with photos and posters from the movie and has a few interesting things to say, like how Tony Curtis was quoted as saying that kissing Marilyn in the movie was “like kissing Hitler.” I didn’t know that “Some Like it Hot” even had a ukulele in it, so it was good news for me.
Hall of Fame
This section features ukulele star George Formby. Now I was really looking forward to this since George was more of a British star, so consequently I know less about him as an American, but unfortunately there wasn’t much here. It is too short and reads a little too much like a biography book report from school written from an encyclopedia. There are too many dates and sterile facts and not enough about the personality and life of the performer and what was special about his style. There is no mention of his famous “split stroke”, or gossip about his crazy wife. Frankly, you’re much better off with Wikipedia on this one.
Uke Around the World
This section contains photos from uke clubs “around the world”, with “the world” consisting entirely of Australia and Hawaii in this instance. Hopefully submissions from readers will help future issues expand the geography a little bit.
Reviews
This section mentions the Mighty Uke DVD and the Troy Hernandez “Hawaiian Style Ukulele 2” CD, and Fred Sokolow’s “Bluegrass Ukulele” songbook. I say “mentions” because they are too short and cursory to be real reviews, and feel more like short promotions.
Upcoming Events
This section is too short and Australia dominated to be helpful to a wider readership.
Advertising
The magazine includes ads from Mya-Moe Ukuleles, Koaloha (who is featured in an article), Scott Wise custom ukes, Gladesville Guitar Factory, and Fluke and Flea (also featured), with an email address contact for special “designs and options”.
Concluding Remarks
Overall, I’m willing to give Kamuke a chance and give it some time to evolve. It would be helpful if future issues were more conscious of the diversity and gender of its readership. However, in the end, who can say "no" to nifty ukulele tidbits in the mail?
First Impressions:
I got this cute little envelope in the mail with a hand lettered address and some pretty Australian stamps and thought “hmmm, neato, what did I order from Australia?” Then I was surprised when I opened the envelope because I was expecting something a little bigger. The magazine is 8.25x6 inches, which is about half the size of a sheet of paper. So it’s smallish, but it is definitely fun to have something you can actually hold in your hands and flip through, as opposed to reading something online. It gave me that happy feeling that I get when I get something nifty in the mail.
Front and Back cover:
There has already been quite a bit said about the cartoon on the cover of the magazine so I will not rehash any of that here. See:
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...the-market!!-Woooo-Hoooo!!!!&highlight=kamuke
For those of you (like me) who dislike the cartoon, I'm sorry to say it appears in a smaller form on the back cover, and on the inside back cover of the magazine as well, incorporated into the Kamuke title logo. Based on the way it is positioned with the title, I fear that "Slutty Sue", as I've taken to thinking of her, is meant to be the magazine’s permanent mascot. Here's hoping they change their minds.
Editor’s Grass Shack:
There is a photo of the editor, Cameron Murray, grinning in his fedora introducing the magazine. He says it is “about time someone produced a quality periodical devoted to all things uke, and this is the result.” This will be news to the producers of “Ukulele Player” magazine in particular, who have been producing a “quality periodical” for some time now that is online (and is free).
Feature Article:
The feature article on Jim Beloff is the longest article (a few pages) and, I think, the strongest. I learned some things about Jim and Liz and about Flea Market Music that I hadn’t already read elsewhere, and Jim did a nice job of answering Cameron’s questions at length. Overall, I think it’s a very good interview.
Construction Zone:
This part of the magazine contains an interview with Paul Okami of Koaloha, and is meant to be the first in a series of interviews with ukulele makers. The text and graphics are nicely laid out with some “behind the scenes” pictures of the shop at work. I liked this article as well.
Club Corner:
This article features an article with John Penhallow, one of the founders of the Balmain Ukulele Club in Sydney Australia. I personally have a limited interest in reading about other people’s clubs. They can be real yawners if you don’t know the people in the article and the club is somewhere distant. However, the questions were steered towards things like “keys to running a successful club” and “biggest challenge”, which may be useful for people who are involved in clubs or are interested in starting one.
Uke in Focus:
This is a part of the magazine I think will really appeal both to those afflicted with “UAS”, or" ukulele acquisition syndrome", as well as those of us interested in historical ukes. This issue features a short article and lots of photos of a Martin Taropatch.
Talk Stories
There are two interviews with two women ukers; “Uni and Her Ukelele”, who apparently doesn’t have a real name (or at least it is not mentioned here) and Rose Turtle Ertler. It is this section of the magazine that made me a little disgruntled. First, how can you do an article on Uni and barely mention her custom Pohaku ukulele by Peter Hurney? See:
http://pohakuukulele.com/pages/uni.html
Instead of pictures of Uni and her awesome uke, we get a head shot of her looking away from the camera that very artfully spotlights the back of her head. Even the ear that’s she has turned towards us is in shadow. So, no ukuleles here, but we are given a little boxed list of Uni’s “Favourites” that reminds me of a Playboy bio and includes her favorite color (Pink), animal (donkey), Food (sushi) City (San Francisco), and Word (Ding!). Seriously? No custom Pohaku but we know Uni’s favorite color. Yikes! What, no measurements? This little box of stupid questions is repeated for the interview with Rose (Blue, “My dog Scruffy”, vegetables, Melbourne, and lentiginous). I noticed that the men who were interviewed in this magazine were spared these questions. To be fair, the interviews themselves are fairly good as artist interviews go, and I hadn’t heard of Rose here in “The States” so I’m looking forward to checking out her music which she describes in the article as “strange pop” or “wonky folk”. But I have to ask, why take a picture of Rose holding two ukuleles cases? Where are the ukes, man?
Cinematic Strumming
This section of the magazine highlights ukuleles in film, and this month features Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like it Hot”. It is visually well laid out with photos and posters from the movie and has a few interesting things to say, like how Tony Curtis was quoted as saying that kissing Marilyn in the movie was “like kissing Hitler.” I didn’t know that “Some Like it Hot” even had a ukulele in it, so it was good news for me.
Hall of Fame
This section features ukulele star George Formby. Now I was really looking forward to this since George was more of a British star, so consequently I know less about him as an American, but unfortunately there wasn’t much here. It is too short and reads a little too much like a biography book report from school written from an encyclopedia. There are too many dates and sterile facts and not enough about the personality and life of the performer and what was special about his style. There is no mention of his famous “split stroke”, or gossip about his crazy wife. Frankly, you’re much better off with Wikipedia on this one.
Uke Around the World
This section contains photos from uke clubs “around the world”, with “the world” consisting entirely of Australia and Hawaii in this instance. Hopefully submissions from readers will help future issues expand the geography a little bit.
Reviews
This section mentions the Mighty Uke DVD and the Troy Hernandez “Hawaiian Style Ukulele 2” CD, and Fred Sokolow’s “Bluegrass Ukulele” songbook. I say “mentions” because they are too short and cursory to be real reviews, and feel more like short promotions.
Upcoming Events
This section is too short and Australia dominated to be helpful to a wider readership.
Advertising
The magazine includes ads from Mya-Moe Ukuleles, Koaloha (who is featured in an article), Scott Wise custom ukes, Gladesville Guitar Factory, and Fluke and Flea (also featured), with an email address contact for special “designs and options”.
Concluding Remarks
Overall, I’m willing to give Kamuke a chance and give it some time to evolve. It would be helpful if future issues were more conscious of the diversity and gender of its readership. However, in the end, who can say "no" to nifty ukulele tidbits in the mail?
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