The thing about the songs of Tom Kitty Oliver (solo moniker of electronic artist Andrew Hamlet) is that they don’t really begin, or end, so much as exist in their own space. While there are seven separate, defined tracks on Oliver’s 20-minutes-and-change-long debut, they all sound as though they could be snatches of longer works, which isn’t necessarily bad, but can definitely feel lacking.
Combining the hazy, humid production of chillwave with the scrambled folktronic viscera one generally associates with acts like The Books or early Bibio, Oliver’s sound comes off something like Washed Out being dragged through a peat bog behind an outboard motor. Organic sounds intermingle with digital ones, creating a thick molasses of Southern-tinged ambient noise. There’s clear repetition, but very little beat to speak of. There are lazily plucked guitars and banjos, but they’re drowned in a soupy gumbo of electronic buzz and drone.
Oliver is clearly doing a lot of experimenting here, and his results are much more good than bad, particularly on the dreamy “Rowan Oak†and “A May Instinct,†his most fully-realized track by far. If this album feels a tad unfinished, it is in the best possible way. Brimming with promise, Life on Loop may be short, but it will leave you wanting more.
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