Euphoria

Euphoria | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B00000JLJ9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,835 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Euphoria make slide-groove "guitronica," blending spacey beats with looping spoken word, breathy vocals, multilayered guitar wash, and intense yet playful drum and keyboard programming. Featuring more fingerpicking and strummy noodling than their electronically centered genre sisters, Euphoria are a stylistic hybrid that works due to their low-key yet pointed adherence to aesthetics. The brief "Notting Hill Gate," for example, opens with deliciously blues-inflected fractured slide à la John Fahey and adds Dobro, ney, and swell cymbal to make something both exotic and altogether familiar. "Lost on a River" places Maddie Willis's multitracked soulful vocals at center, gorgeously complementing the unusual "orchestra" of funk guitars, Hammond B3, and acoustic bass. Elsewhere, Euphoria go all oozy with melting ambient drips of sound or forge new means of rhythmic travel (think Pell Mell) as on the beautifully orchestrated closer "The Road," featuring reverberating and chiming guitar work, harmonica, shattered key and drum accents, and brilliantly utilized bagpipes. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh sounds at last!, December 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Euphoria (Audio CD)

It's about time a fresh sound came into the electronica section of the music stores. I have purchased several albums from the Ambient/Techno/Rave section at Sam the Record Man and I must say that this one stands out as one I had no trouble listening to right from the start. Other electronica stuff has beats and grooves that just don't fit sometimes (ie: Statik Sound System, brutal! ) but Euphoria was the first album I've bought in a while that I didn't have to skip tracks on. This is a definite must-have for those who are tired of the same old same-old. Great disc!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A completely unique mix of guitars and electronica, July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Euphoria (Audio CD)

If you like Ry Cooder, Pink Floyd or the Orb your mind is going to be blown by this completely unique mix of guitars (mostly acoustic slide) and ambient electronica. REALLY well produced. There's even a guest appearance from Rush bassist Geddy Lee of all people. (Don't worry he doen't sing only plays bass). If Pink Floyd had any interest in keeping current and actually moving forward musically, this is the CD they might make.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another fine release from San Francisco label Six Degrees, October 4, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (London, Chalk Farm) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Euphoria (Audio CD)

"The album was originally intended as an exploration of dreams," says Ken Ramm, Toronto-based guitarist and the brains behind the Euphoria project. The subtle use of vocals - soulful voices drift in and out - does give Euphoria a hypnotic, trip-hop quality. But the signature sound of Euphoria is the slide guitar. Inspired by the way Pink Floyd used the slide guitar to create "a real expressive, emotional quality", Euphoria brings a uniquely guitar-driven twist to downtempo electronica.

Recorded in London, Ken Ramm plays many of the guitar parts himself but is joined by the legendary B.J. Cole on pedal steel guitars to add a more atmospheric, electric texture. Other musicians lending a hand include Anne Dudley of Art of Noise, ex-Soft Machine bassist Roy Babbington, and Rush bassist Geddy Lee. Live vocal contributions come from Maddie Willis and gospel singer Juliette Roberts (on the excellent "Lost on a River").

It is not all swirling guitar harmonies and layers of slide guitar though. Other instruments include the Arab ney flute, the Bulgarian kaval flute, harmonica and bagpipes. The intricate and richly textured songs dip into ambient groove, world music, trip hop, blues, psychedelic rock, drum & bass. This unlikely mix of styles and instruments work surprisingly well and results in a distinctive and memorable sound. A beautiful and inspirational CD.