For those unaware, Anthony “Ant” Davis is a distinguished hip-hop producer, one-half of the renowned duo Atmosphere, and a founding member of independent record label Rhymesayers Entertainment.

His decades-long career of beat-making has also included works for MF DOOM, Brother Ali, Murs, Rav, Sage Francis and a dozen others. Raised in a military family, his nomadic upbringing exposed him to many diverse influences and, coupled with his father’s love for collecting records, laid the groundwork for his deep appreciation for all sorts of music.

Ant’s latest endeavor, Collection of Sounds, is a four-volume series of instrumental works showcasing the breadth and depth of his musical expertise.

The Collection of Sounds series offers a window into Ant’s creative journey, reflecting his evolution as an artist over the years. Drawing from a vast vault of unreleased material, he’s exhumed cross sections of his catalog with surgical precision, organizing songs by sound rather than mere chronology.

Side A:
1. Collection Of Sounds Start 2. Leather Soul 3. Bar One 4. SK15 Fly Strings 5. I Was Always A Collector 6. Lovely Original Sketch 7. My First Koop Session 8. This Happened 9. Only The Junk

Putting the vinyl album on the turntable, this wonderfully vibrant, and wholly-impassioned new recording opens on the introductory Collection Of Sounds Start, the hip-hop grooved slink of Leather Soul, the risers and open hats that adorn Bar One and then we get the silky smooth SK15 Fly Strings, the informatively shimmering I Was Always A Collector, the cinematically-hued, captivatingly unique Lovely Original Sketch, with the low slung, gangster rap-esque beats of My First Koop Session, the magical This Happened, and the R&B-vibed Only The Junk rounding out the first side.

Side B:
10. Collection Side Two 11. Sun Decides 12. That Old Bongo Joint 13. Every Once In A While 14. Random Beat CD March 2005 15. Fooled You 16. 4-Track Beyond Beat 1996 17. Outernet Sketch For Live Use

Flipping the vinyl album over, dropping the needle, the first track of the second side is the bookend (albeit filtered with more harmonious, atmospheric background vocals) to the opening track Collection Side Two, the scratchy stank banger Sun Decides, the aptly-titled, jazz/70’s funk and Latin soul of That Old Bongo Joint, and then we are brought forth the hauntingly ethereal, Western-imbued Every Once In A While, the translucent flow within Random Beat CD March 2005, the collection closing on some captured spoken words from the 1950 film Harvey, the minute long Fooled You, the slinking 4-Track Beyond Beat 1996, and finally the dope beats that embody the stellar Outernet Sketch For Live Use.

Many of the beats on Collection of Sounds: Volume 1 have pockets that are practically begging for rappers to explore. When he first pondered releasing an instrumental series, Ant figured he might want to make the songs more intricate than the ones he gave to his rapper collaborators, filling up the space in the mix that would normally be given over to their vocals.

“But then it would be jazz, right?” he says with a loud laugh. “And I’m not that.” Fitting, as Collection of Sounds is not about forgetting who you are — it’s about remembering, reconfiguring, and reimagining, all at once; a testament to Ant’s artistic integrity.

The vinyl packaging includes a 12” matte jacket with die cut custom translucent colored window, custom green colored vinyl, printed record sleeve featuring photograph by ZooDeville and painting by Saber.

www.rhymesayers.com