Kareem - Your Markets Are Volatile (2017)

Patrick Stottrop isn't in a rush to release music. Since reviving Zhark Recordings three years ago with The Sky Is Gone But You Are Still Here, the Berliner has appeared on a split EP and a Croatian cassette label compilation, mixed a few podcasts, and done not much else. In the past, Stottrop experimented with a variety of styles, from IDM and ambient to grinding industrial techno and hip-hop. His forte is heady rhythms and mood, which come together to form Zhark's "dark, but accessible" blueprint. Even at their hardest, the results have been, to borrow one of Stottrop's track titles, mesmeric.

Like his previous Zhark EP, Your Markets Are Volatile comprises brooding soundscapes steeped in dense atmospherics that swirl in hypnotising patterns. They're all dance floor tracks but, as the EP progresses, you might find yourself groping for a comfortable chair—these are compositions to get lost in. Stottrop draws you deep into his world and applies layers of sound like a sedative. The groggy "My Degree Is A Black Belt" is gloopy and viscous, like your surroundings are turning to mush.

"There Is No End In The Light Of The Tunnel" is a pressurised dub techno track that slowly swells until it feels like your head is about to explode. The same thing happens on "The Holy Alliance," which recalls dubstep as it skulks through the murk. The change is so slight that you barely notice it. This is another of Stottrop's skills—he can move from light to dark or meek to overbearing in a single move. Only the title track, where Stottrop adds microscopic details to intensify the head trip, is sentimental. There's a technoid glitch early on, fuzzy industrial impressions later, and acid droplets towards the close. Kareem productions may be infrequent, but they're always worth the wait.