Well so continuing with the “alphabet” of obscure indiepop bands, today is the turn for B!
But first let’s check out 5 new finds from the web from over the weekend!
Nah…: the wonderful band formed by Sebastian Voss and Estella Rosa have a new single out! It has two songs, “Apple Blossoms” and “Primavera” and they do sound just like the perfect music for spring with the lovely boy/girl vocals! The single is available now on CD! So run and get a copy before it sells out!
Ignacio Aguiló: it has been a long time since I checked the new songs my friend Joel has shared in his facebook page Latin American Twee. The first song I stumble upon is called “Días”, a digital single by Ignacio who used to be in the Argentinean band Hacia Dos Veranos. The song is released by the Spanish label Discos de la Bahía.
Bubblegum Lemonade: the great Glasgow band fronted by Laz has a new release out, a 3 song EP that I think is unmissable! “Our Mother’s House” EP was released on March 15th and includes the title track, “Barely Regal” and “When Life Gives You Lemons”. Top stuff!
Terry vs. Tori: the Seville, Spain, band are working on an album called “Heathers”. This album will include the song “Braille” which is the one I’m sharing now. It is dreamy and elegant, so one wonders when will this debut album will be released!
Johan Hedberg: the Swede is back with a new single called “Tobias och jag”! And it sounds grrrrreat! I don’t think it is available in a physical format as far as I know, but just on streaming services. In any case the title-song is available on Soundcloud and as I said, it is a good one! —————————————————————–
I really like both Barry Gemso Experience CDs. I must say I got them in the first place just because they were on the Siesta label out of Madrid. I liked this label’s aesthetics and the music they put out. I didn’t have a clue who were in this band. Or even if it was a band. I listened to them and then I stored them. I did upload to Youtube a song, this one I’m sharing here to introduce them to you if you’ve never heard them before. But in the end I don’t know absolutely nothing about them. Now that I’m going through the alphabet, I thought the letter B, the second entry in this new challenge I have, would be perfect to explore and find out more about them.
So two CDs on Siesta. Well, more like two albums. There were LP versions too. The first one dates from 1999 and was called “Ski Lodge Serenade” (SIESTA 102). It is interesting that this was an albums band, no singles or EPs were released. This album was available on CD and LP. The songs on them were “Girl on a Snowmobile”, “Hangliding”, “The Box”, “St. Tropez”, “I’ll Never Need Another Friend”, “Groovin’ Happening”, “Me & Penelope”, “Venus & Mars”, “Buttercup Business”, “Cinema Daze”, “Nous Verrons Bien” and “Theme from Mandrake S.I. (Skis of Fury, Skis of Fire)”. Two names pop up on this album, Orson Presence and Toby Robinson. The tracks were written and produced by both and recorded by Toby Robinson. Who were they? I’ll try to get back to that later.
First I want to check out their 2nd album which was called “La Vie Vie”. This one came out again on Siesta (SIESTA 172) in 2003. No vinyl version this time. There were 11 songs: “Dial S for Siren”, “Sandman”, “Mr. Wonderful”, “Every Single Day”, “Wood and Magic”, “Hitching a Ride”, “The Tyranny of Dreams”, “Future Imperfect”, “Fuzz”, “Chiffon Samba” and “The Mysteries of Life”. Now on the credits we only see one name, Toby Hrycek-Robinson. He added one last name?
The band also appeared on a few compilations. In 1999 they contributed “Groovin’ Happenin'” to “Sombrero” a superb compilation on Siesta (SIESTA 80) that was available on vinyl and CD. Then in the year 2000 they had “Dial S for Siren” on the Italian label S.H.A.D.O.’s compilation “Harpsichord 2000″ (SUBO11) that was available on CD and double 10” vinyl.
On the Japanese label Rambling Records they had “St Tropez” in their “Blanco y Negro Music for Siesta” (RBCS-2024) in 2002 and later on, in 2005 they had 3 songs on the compilation”El Cielo Azul” (RBCS-2116) on the same label, “Girl on a Snowmobile”, “Hangliding” and “I’ll Never Need Another Friend”.
Lastly in 2004, on “Derby. Once Temporadas de Siesta” (SIESTA 180) they had the song “Every Single Day”.
Orson Presence then. Also known as Dippie or Pres-Ence, among other names. He has been part of The Monochrome Set and Scarlet’s Well. But I don’t know his real name.
Toby Hrycek-Robinson in the other hand has a bio on Discogs. He is a producer, composer and recording engineer. He is based in London but he is originally from Cape Town, South Africa. He owns Moat Studio since 1990. He has been in many krautrock bands during the 70s and has composed music for several TV channels in the UK. He has been part too of Fuerrote and Scarlet’s Well. Oh! and he goes under the names of F.B. Nosnibor, Genius P.Orridge and The Mad Twiddler as well.
I am very curious though about the name Barry Gemso. Where did that name come from? What’s the story? Siesta Records doesn’t have much more information on him.
Well, at least we have one name. It is much more than from where we started. But still there are many questions I have. One of them is not if the band played live. I’m pretty sure they never did. Anyone knows any other details about The Barry Gemso Experience?
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