Ant
Collection of Sounds: Vol. 1
Rhymesayers Entertainment
An intrepid explorer at heart, Ant had gone to the ends of the underground hip-hop galaxy with Atmosphere, searching high and low for fresh beats and samples to bob and weave with partner Slug’s wily, soul-baring lyrics and deft storytelling. The duo was about to embark on a new journey for 2008’s iconic When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold as a different portal opened to Ant. He’d toyed with the idea of welcoming live musicians into Atmosphere’s expanded universe. It was time to put his plan in motion.
Unbeknownst to Ant at the time, the seeds for Collection of Sounds: Vol. 1, his eclectic and absorbing debut solo album, had been planted. Beyond prolific, Ant is on the cusp of releasing a total of four records of intriguing instrumentals, the first of which sees him sticking to a well-crafted plot of sequencing every track with dark connecting passages and snippets of conversation. Dancing, jabbing piano and squashed synthesizer sounds move “Leather Soul,” its irresistible, head-bobbing stroll strutting down an imagined electric avenue, encountering the spacey, hypnotic mystery of an alien “Bar One” and the gossamer strings of “Fly One,” just around the corner. That’s where Dr. Dre and Aphex Twin are waiting to give Ant his flowers.
Shuffling noir, twinkling piano, and what sounds like mandolin strumming seep into “My First Koop Session,” as Ant’s creeped-out fever dreams come to life. The otherworldly “This Happened” ripples and sighs, its trance-inducing, dusky mix of digital flowering and liquid tones an invitation to sink into sweet oblivion, and a trippy “Sun Decides” is a psychotropic horror, with its contorted, child-like vocals managing to sound both angelic and sinister. And speaking of ominous enticements, the chilling “4-Track Beyond Beat 1996” beckons, like Dr. Octagon driving around in a white panel van looking for candidates for surgical perversions most foul.
Lightening the mood, “That Old Bongo Joint” is a modern penthouse of suave, slinky funk and jazz that grooves smoothly, aglow with electric keys and prodded by tight, elastic bass rolled into interesting shapes. Cocktails are being poured. Slip into something more, pun intended, atmospheric, and enjoy the wordless wonders of Collection of Sounds: Vol. 1.
