- Following months behind IDLE033, ++++ is Matt Karmil's second album of 2016. His recent Idle Hands LP was basically a slow, murky beat tape, but this full-length for PNN returns to the British producer's boldly patient and deeply textured techno. Across nine tracks, Karmil errs on the side of simplicity. Everything here is made of only the most essential elements, with little in the way of ornamentation. When Karmil lands on a sound he likes—a loop, a texture, a pattern, an accidental rhythm—he seems to want only to sink deeper into it. As a result, ++++ is distinctly meditative, often featuring just one idea that blurs in and out of focus until it fades away.
Early on, "If I'm Honest I Miss You A Little Bit" is the most hypnotic and spacious example of this, utilizing a loop of filtered chords, foggy tape noise and a pulsing low-end pattern. The five-minute "Be Gentle" taps into another simple loop of dubby chords, as does "Carry Her / Wave" for its gripping six minutes. Near ++++'s end, "Crystals" downshifts the momentum with a light throb of warbled pads that stretches to almost nine minutes.
As on his past albums (especially his debut LP for PNN, ----), Karmil's affinity for stripped-down composition seemed to come from an unshakable confidence in his ideas, knowing what he wanted to say with each track and executing it as directly as possible. A large part of what makes these efficient arrangements successful is how the producer crafts texture around his source material with tape processing and gentle manipulation. It's easy to hear how much time was invested—the individual sounds feel obsessed over, each element sounding like it's been bounced back and forth between tape decks. The process gives the music marbled layers of sonic degradation, all the pops, clicks and incidentals that result from being continually transferred through tape. ++++ plays to the strength of Karmil's tones, only hinting at his presence as a conductor. He fades elements in and out—like on "Be Gentle," which waits until its closing minutes to introduce the rhythm's low-end—and gradually tweaks delays and filters to bury sounds under the fog.
Though Karmil has dabbled in dance floor material for BIS and Studio Barnhus, among others, ++++ sits on the fringe of club music. What rhythms there are take the form of slow-thudding kicks or splintered hi-hats and snares, all cloaked in swaths of noise. Karmil stays focused on coaxing emotional depth from his tape-centric production process. If IDLE033 was an engaging side-step into experimentation, ++++ is a prudent step forward.
Tracklist01. Perfect World
02. Be Gentle
03. If I'm Honest I Miss You A Little Bit
04. Femern
05. AF
06. Carry Her / Wave
07. Crush
08. Crystals
09. Pulse