Author: Euphoria

Format: Remixes included

Release Date: 11-04-2006

Details: Amazon.ca Fans of Euphoria's earlier semi-chilled CDs of ambient Americana might be taken aback by the nasty blues snarl of "Back Against the Wall," the opening track of this third Euphoria CD. Sounding like the J. Geils Band circa 1975, guitarist Ken Ramm unleashes a backsliding electric blues scrawl over a crushing four-on-the-floor groove and doesn't let up until Howard Levy drops in with some gut-bucket harmonica. Since their semi-hit "Delirium" on the first CD, Euphoria has traded on an organic brand of electronica, picking up on Moby's rustic roots sampling ethos. But instead of samples, Euphoria boasted the real guitar playing of Ramm. On Precious Time, he dials up some changes, with Steve Sidelynk (Madonna, Massive Attack) mixing live drums with the programmed rhythms for an even more organic sound. In addition, vocalists top out several tunes. Tina Dico, who has sung with Zero 7, adds a sophisticated yearning cadence to the song called "Blue," and her "Sinners and Saints" is a strong bid for a pop single. Tracy Bonham brings her soulful voice to the mournful, yet still propulsive, title track. But most of Precious Time is instrumental, with "Cowboys" and "The Getaway" returning to the more countrified electronica of earlier CDs. Euphoria is still an exploration in sound, even at their most pop. Ramm mixes fingerstyle guitar with Indian tabla drums and vocal percussion on the aforementioned "Blue," and goes purely acoustic on the solo 12-string-guitar idyll, "The Glendale Train." "Vapor," an impressionistic 10-minute excursion composed with Brian Eno's Oblique Strategy cards, is an odd closer for an album that otherwise relentlessly lives up to the Euphoria name and promise. --John Diliberto

UPC: 601143105623

EAN: 0601143105623

Languages: English

Binding: Audio CD

Item Condition: New