Saturday 12 December 2020

Musical notes

Little scraps of paper abound in my Shedio, where I work all day with only the radio for company.  Scrawled words on torn off corners, hurriedly written, barely legible in magenta or turquoise or 2H pencil or whatever’s closest to hand.  All sorts of apparently random words and names.  Maybe they look like coded messages to a stranger’s eyes, yet to be deciphered, but once revealed they will disclose a dangerous secret.

I mean, a note I made just last week scribbled in purple diagonally across a ripped sheet reads:

Mancini        

       Shotgun

Hmmm....

Of course, I'm just being a fantasist, this is nothing as intriguing as a secret code, but for me it does point to something exciting.  My frantically scribbled notes (I'm very analogue!) are all aides memoires for songs I hear which make my ears prick up (I’m sure they actually do, like a cat’s, if only you could see them).  Songs that make me stop what I’m doing, artists who definitely warrant further investigation.

A little further investigation reveals that the artist in question here, Iraina Mancini, is a singer, actor, radio host, model and DJ, born into a musical family – her father is Warren Peace, a childhood friend of David Bowie, who also co-wrote songs with the great man and provided backing vocals for him.   Oh, imagine having a dad like that!

Iraina has already written her first solo album, but sadly there’s not a lot to hear from her out there just yet, however ‘Shotgun’ is her latest single release and I really hope it stops as many other people in their tracks as it did me the other day...  I think it’s gorgeous - sultry, darkly sensual and cinematic.

It probably comes as no surprise on listening to this to read that Iraina’s musical inspirations include French ‘60s cinema and Ye-Ye, Northern Soul, Serge Gainsbourg, and psychedelia... (right up my street!)

Iraina Mancini: Shotgun

16 comments:

  1. I'm too anal to use scraps of paper, but I have post-it notes to myself everywhere... all the way around my laptop screen, on the doors of kitchen cabinets, bathroom mirror, nightstand. Quite often I forget what they meant, but these notes have saved me many times. Yes, that song is a jaw-droppingly good, and she is gorgeous.

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    1. Where would we be without our notes?! Remember the days when we used to write them on our hands too... that's not going to work at the moment!
      Glad you enjoyed Iraina - one to watch, I think.

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  2. Very timely - Gary Crowley played it last night on his BBC Radio London show. I think it could grow on me.

    Btw, your videos are still not appearing when viewed from a mobile device. But worry thee not - just change this bit of html code:
    Where it says Class="BLOG
    change it to Class="YOUTUBE

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    1. Ah, that's good, I heard it on 6Music, so it's getting around.
      Thanks for that about the HTML code - I've just tried it, at least I think I have, if you get chance can you let me know if it works now? Many thanks...

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    1. Glad about that, thanks - but something weird going on with it my end, I'll wait and see what happens next time I post something!

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  4. I write notes all over the place, scraps of paper with things on. Occasionally I try to rationalise them onto one list. Then I start again.

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    1. Could be the start of a Willam S Burroughs style project!

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    2. I'm a big fan of cut up technique. Might be interesting to see what impact it has by applying it to my daily life.

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    3. Could yield some interesting results!

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  5. I can see why you would like Shotgun from all her inspirations. Quite clever with seemingly two separate tracks playing over each other (I had to check I didn't have two windows open on my computer!).

    Yes, when I started blogging I used to scribble ideas down in my little handbag notebook which then got transferred to a spreadsheet. Of late I've gone all digital putting ideas onto my phone - Funnily enough though they are the ones I never seem to get back to.

    Like the image of your ears pricking up. Would be funny if it really did happen.

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    1. You know, I hadn't heard it like that until you pointed it out and now listening to it again I see what you mean!

      Interesting about the digital notes versus handwritten ones. Perhaps there's something more 'present' about the handwritten ones. Things on phones somehow seem one step removed, or maybe that's just my analogue brain! I still have my notebook on my desk in the house for my 'things to do' list which I couldn't live without, but my painting environment is different and admin-free! So hastily torn-off scraps it is when I'm in there...

      I'd love it if our ears really did prick up (or perhaps more accurately, backwards and forwards) - I'm pretty sure I already cock my head to the side like a dog.

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  6. Oh, I like that track.

    As for notes, I try to keep all mine in one long, densely packed list. When there's no more room on the sheet of A4, I re-write the whole thing, taking out the things that are done or no longer required, making space on the list for more new stuff. It's a never-ending process, and sometimes make life seem a bit futile! But hey, happy Christmas!

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    1. Glad you like it too!
      Your long list sounds like my desk notebook (see reply to Alyson above) - yes, a constant process of listing and crossing out and indeed re-writing some entries. It's interesting to look back through the pages sometimes too, it reads a bit like a diary, albeit an extremely boring one!

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  7. Just a note to wish you and Mr SDS a Merry Christmas C

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    1. Thanks CC and to you too (I'm late with my Christmas Eve post this year!)

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