[Wild Oats]

The Martinez Brothers may get all the press, but house music’s real boy wonder is 17-year-old Detroiter Kyle Hall. Last year’s “The Water is Fine EP” on Moods & Grooves already showcased a producer capable of crafting distinctive, affecting deep house in the tradition of Theo Parrish, Omar S, Rick Wilhite, and Hall’s mentor Mike Huckaby. “Worx of Art EP 1,” the inaugural release on Hall’s own Wild Oats label, makes it clear the previous record was no fluke and that his is a career worth following.

Even before noticing the music on this record, you might be struck by how imaginative even the titles are. “I <3 Dr. Girl Friend” is probably the best, and the corresponding track does not disappoint. Hall weaves a vocal R&B sample through a drowsy groove, wafting from hip-hop to house and back again. “Slow Dancesteppn On Toes” makes you feel like you’re doing it, its beat a slow shuffle that might fall over if pushed. The piano and strings have a dramatic, soundtrack feel that is kept from sentimentality by trippy synth work and surreal bird noises. “Fuse N Me” is evocative of the mid-seventies work of one of Detroit’s best-known jazz musicians, Donald Byrd, whose “Stepping Into Tomorrow” Hall sampled on the previous EP’s standout “Create Your Own Existence.” This time, the hypnotic bass line, insistent piano and jazzy improvisations are Hall’s own.

If “I <3 Dr Girl Friend” is the most awesome title, “A World of New Old” is the most profound. The track is based on a piano vamp that sounds like it came straight from the fingers of McCoy Tyner or Herbie Hancock, augmented by a rumbling 303 and the sort of melody you might expect an alien to sing to its children. Like the rest of the record, its “New Old” approach combines a futuristic, inventive production style with a sensitive understanding of African-American music from before and after the advent of house. That it comes from someone so young is as encouraging a sign about the state of dance music as you could ask for.