Kyle Hall’s ‘Cosmic Touch’ opens his EP of the same name with masterful machine drum funk. Anything he touches turns into interplanetary gold, proven by the hypnotic and detailed grooves present across the release and his output to date. In ‘Cosmic Touch’, hazy resonant synths playfully bounce off layers of infectious rhythm, entrancing the listener before ‘Cobalt’ rides in with galactic pads and rolling toms, a swirly acid-line unfolding slowly in the second half.
Closing out this next entry on the Spanish Apnea imprint, ‘Phantom’ chugs along a mystifying, ghastly synth line while typewriter-like hats hammer onto its steady kickdrum, chirpy sequences carefully filling the spaces between. Detroit artist Kyle Hall blends classic motor city techno with house influences, his personal take on the genres characterised by a warm, soulful sound and intricate rhythmic patterns in turn drawing from jazz, funk, and hip-hop. His music has landed on labels like Hyperdub, his own Wild Oats & Forget The Clock, and now, he follows up his collaborative ‘Crown’ LP with Steven Julien on Apron Records with a three-tracker on Apnea, a label which recently returned to the fold with quality releases from the likes of Gerald Donald’s Gedankenexperiment and E.R.P.
