Dwight Ritcher – Radioman / 2004 Self-Released / 10 Tracks / http://www.dwightritcherband.com / Reviewed 27 January 2005

Continuing the innocuous style of funk and soul that was so prevalent on “Drive Around Town”, Dwight Ritcher has not changed a lick. Sure, the production sounds a little more solid this go around, but opening the disc with the title track bodes pretty negatively. The laid-back tone of the track is acceptable, but the wide open spaces between the bass line seem mammoth in this set-up. “Fade Away” is even more mellow than the title track, and has its only saving grace during the lead-up (on the drums). With virtually no delineation between tracks, I was surprised to hear that a number of tracks had gone by before my notice. I understand the necessity of maintaining a coherency on one’s disc, but when a listener has no clue that what you are playing is different than what you were playing three minutes ago, methinks you might have a problem.

Dwight Ritcher has absolutely no problem in arranging catchy tracks, but every cut from “Radioman” is engineered to be the most inoffensive and bland, ensuring that there is not much in the way of experimentation on any part of this disc. Everything on “Radioman” has a veneer, a shine that wasn’t always present on “Drive Around Town”. However, when one actually stars listening to this disc, the same lines, the same tones, hell – almost the same songs come back over and over again. The only time we can get an actual bead on who Dwight Ritcher is is during the mid-point of the disc, with “Wander”. “Wander” is the nearest thing one gets to an acoustic track on “Radioman”, and besides being extremely similar in substance vocally to a Dave Matthews track, “Wander” wallows in too much guitar distortion.

The sad fact is that Ritcher has not progressed in terms of song-writing or styling since “Drive Around Town”. If one positive thig can be levied in Ritcher’s favor, it is that ey does not care in the least about creating music that individuals will be drawn to. This is music that must make Ritcher happy, but will knock out (as in put into a coma) practically anyone that listens to it. Well, for those aficionados that absolutely love the music that is put on the weather channel, maybe Ritcher’s music will be new and edgy, but I’m guessing those people are few and far between. Avoid this album if at all possible.

Top Tracks: None

Rating: 1.9/10