We last heard from Todd Fletcher's Psychetropic on Heat, incidentally one of the first reviews to appear on the Ambient Review site. Now, with Ambient Review's one year anniversary, I'm pleased to be reviewing Fletcher's newest Psychetropic outing, the impressive China Radio Sunshine.

In my review of Heat, I felt that it "was akin to traveling back in time to when Detroit techno inspired IDM was the height of musical sophistication in many listeners' homes." With China Radio Sunshine, Fletcher has all but discarded the Detroit/IDM flavorings, in favor of an even smoother, beat-oriented, ambient techno sound. Those who felt Heat may have owed a little too much to mid-nineties, summery electronica (whether intentional or not) will find the Psychetropic project moving into its own zone of influence--honestly, I'm hard pressed to think of another modern artist creating music quite like this. Case in point: the album opener "Futurengine" begins with a resonant, almost sitar-sounding swell, perhaps reminiscent of Fletcher's ambient work. Then, unusual synth-sequences flow in, along with a gorgeous synth wave and ethereal, female, wordless vocals, just like a ray of sunshine invoked by the album's title. The rhythm programming is slick and unpredictable; an insistent pulse constantly shifting, never allowing the track to become unnecessarily repetitive. "Falling Again" continues the unpredictability with a jazzy bassline underpinning constantly flagellating percussive sequences, Detroit-techno synth washes, and bird samples(!). Once again, the rhythm programming is top-notch, really increasing the appeal of the track. Honestly, I'm just going to go for broke, mid-review, and say that every track on the album is equally impressive. "Follow Us to Earth" reminds me of the ethereal techno of Peter Benisch, sans the Euro-house clichés Benisch occasionally lapses into. "Frozen Garden" has synth washes that are almost palpable; think the lovely synth drift of Namlook and Hawtin's "Homeward Bound" on From Within. This is a head-nodder par excellence. The roads must roll on "Slidewalk," which recalls the future-past musings of The Black Dog's connector tracks on Spanners--a cool, futuristic interlude between longer tracks. "Dead Slow Day" cools the tempo with a slowly tittering sequence and extremely psychedelic synthwashes. Once again, the light rhythms are unpredictable, interesting, and a highlight--a lovely, anything-but-standard ambient-techno track. "China Radio Sunshine" appeared on the excellent Databloem compilation Collection 2: Moving, and exemplifies the high quality of the album--it's probably the most representative track of the whole Psychetropic vibe. "Tripping Star" begins as an ambient drift track and progresses into space-walk downtempo brilliance. Fans of Biosphere's earlier work will find sonic similarities here, particularly on the more ambient tracks of Patashnik, though the sound here is brighter, more positive. The album closer "Sonoran Roads" brings us back down to Earth, a Warp-style IDM excursion with ultra-modern glitch percussives. This is my favorite track on the record, simultaneously classic and modern sounding, and a direction I hope future Psychetropic albums take.

I've skimmed over a few tracks on China Radio Sunshine, but rest assured, they are all equally professional, listenable, beautiful. The album is overwhelmingly song-oriented (refreshing to some degree, since I often deal with long, long ambient tracks in my reviews), and definitely conducive to repeat plays. If you enjoyed Heat, you are absolutely going to love China Radio Sunshine, which, though not light years ahead of Fletcher's past work, represents the most modern, excellent work I've heard by him so far. This is fantastic material, and, as I mentioned earlier, unlike anything I'm currently hearing from the IDM and ambient camps. It's a mixture of both, and, as such, would make a good "gateway drug" for ambient listeners curious about IDM, and IDM/ambient-techno fans who want a little more ambient mixed in with their beats. Recommended.

On Fletcher's own Microrelease label.

since July 15, 2003