Gyppos - Bold Ambler

GYPPOS – Bold Ambler LP (fLAMiNG OH Records, 2009)
Greetings from fLAMING Oh Records on the exquisite occasion of the label’s debut release, the first album by GYPPOS, namely BOLD AMBLER.
Recorded in a secret location in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England during 2008, the 10 songs on offer here, mesmerically blend the musical ideas of 4 young men from Northern England, before the resulting sonic hybrids gleefully slope off in various directions leaving a most rewarding trail of confounded expectations in their wake…  
Likened once to “a juvenile Captain Beefheart chowing down with Django Reinhardt…” (indeed, the virtuoso gypsy guitarist is paid unmistakable spiritual homage in the band’s very name) “…whilst producers Slim Gaillard and Lee Perry respectfully urge them to use electric guitars and drums like any normal English band”, the openness of GYPPOS’ approach cannot obscure the purity of their purpose throughout this album. Alongside the dueling guitars, you will hear, among other things, pointed use of trumpet, banjo, ukulele, piano and Argentine nose flute. Touches that only confirm this band’s essentially earthy and rooted nature – these tunes are like audio divining rods, pointing a listener toward most unexpected cultural expressions, whilst at the rod’s tip, the very lyrical musings of singer Mike Jones tell variously of inter-generational conflict, courtroom drama, poetic misanthropy and hosts of other tales that lodge effortlessly among your synapses.
As if to emphasize their gently defiant approach to music industry norms, GYPPOS have chosen to record their debut on 16 track reel to reel tape, without a computer system in sight. To paraphrase the words of Can’s Holger Czukay, limitation is indeed the mother of invention. And the absence of post production editing on this -  by today’s standards – short album only serves to show up, in even starker relief, the strength of their ideas, the honesty of their endeavour, the idea that music making is as much about the creative process as it is about a spangly or airbrushed end product.
With a growing fanbase in their own region, and live experience around the country and on the continent, we at fLAMING Oh hope for big things for GYPPOS in 2009 and beyond, and sincerely hope you enjoy your time with BOLD AMBLER.

Track listing
1.    Forget Me Not
2.    Desperation Row
3.    G-bop & Rocksteady
4.    Bold Ambler
5.    I Don’t Even Like You
6.    Banjo # 1
7.    The Statement
8.    When I’m Alone
9.    Plough Blues
10.    Le Djangoisee

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