Georgia-bred producer Neal Howard received his first dose of studio schooling in 1999, as an entry-level engineer with an indie outfit in downtown Atlanta. And though he got his feet wet recording, mixing, and co-writing primarily for local rock and jazz ensembles, Howard ultimately graduated to the genre of his choice, i.e. hip-hop/future-soul, as a songwriter and producer in 2004. "I'd like to somehow be responsible for a 'Stankonia'-like moment---a real shifting of the paradigm---in Atlanta music, a sound that's gonna help usher The Dirty into a new age," he said recently of his long-range goals. As for his debut instrumental LP, "Power Animal", Howard laughed, "I just hope y'all think the 20 tracks I chose are hot. It got a little overwhelming at the end, because I was pulling from a pool of roughly 200 that I've put together over the past two years." "Power Animal" isn't really Howard's first release, if we choose to count the seven mixtape volumes he has disseminated into the public domain over the last 12 months. Not to mention the critically-acclaimed tracks he has produced for Atlanta-based artists like Cellus, whose sales for his Nov. 25 LP, "The Most Beautiful", were significantly bolstered by Howard's three contributions ("No Filter", "Window Pain", and "Can I Call U"). The album remained on iTunes' "Hot Indie Hip-Hop" list for several weeks following its release, and according to at least one industry insider, managed to generate conference-room whispers between major-label execs citywide. Now, Howard takes the next step, delivering 14 tracks of pure instrumental gold.