Customer Reviews

Soft Money

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wrote Anticon and their roster off as a bunch of pretentious nerd rappers years ago based off a few brief listenings to some of their weirder acts. That is up until recently when I finally gave one of their artists (Odd Nosdam) a shot and really enjoyed what I heard. I was told by a friend who's big on Anticon that Jel and Telephone Jim Jesus would be worth my time to check out next. I wasn't too crazy about TJJ, but after listening to a few Jel tracks on last.fm I was sold and ran out and picked up Soft Money that same day. So anyways I've been listening to this album regularly for a couple of weeks now and I love it. It's mostly instrumentals which is cool for me because I love instrumental hip hop, but this record really stands out and isn't your typical instro album. One thing about it that's cool is how Jel incorporates live instrumentation with his loops and samples, and it works amazingly well how he does it. There's really no repetition like you'll find with a lot of instrumental rap records, he does a good job of keeping the loops brief and constantly changing & evolving, so even the songs with no vocals will keep you interested in what's going on with the tracks. There's a couple of songs with Jel and some other dude rapping and they're okay, he doesn't have a great voice for rapping and his cadence is kinda dry, but the lyrics are really good. The real standouts on this album are the instrumental tracks, specifically No Solution, Thrashin, Know You Don't, Nice Last & Chipmunk Technique. I'd actually rate this at just over 4 and a half stars, but will go ahead & give it 5 because the overall rating before this review is too low for how good this actually is (IMO of course). Highly recommend this one to open minded hip hop fans, there's alot to love with this album and not many negatives to speak of.

I'm not very familiar with the Anticon collective, but I do know good music when I hear it. Jel's 2006 offering would definitely fall under that category. The album is mostly filled with an array of Jel beats with a few rhymes sprinkled here and there (most of which are of a political nature). The rhymes are tight, but they take a backseat to Jel's great production. Tracks like "To Buy A Car", "No Solution", "Nice Last", "Know You Don't", and "All Day Breakfast" make this album worth owning by themselves. There's a heavy electronica influence, but the blending of genres is what makes this album stand out.

There are a few passable tracks, but not many. "Sweet Cream In It", "Chipmunk Technique", and "Mislead" aren't bad, but they're not very memorable either. I wasn't really feeling the biting of Chill Rob G lyrics toward the end of "WMD" either, but the rest of the song was good.

Despite two or three passable tracks, Soft Money is definitely an album worth owning. If you're into RJD2, Blockhead, or similar artists, then check this out. You won't be disappointed. I recommend adding this one to the collection. Two thumbs up.

Standout Tracks: Know You Don't, Thrashin', To Buy A Car, No Solution, Soft Money-Dry Bones, Nice Last (My Favorite), All Around, WMD, & All Day Breakfast

New to Jel. Techno/new age/dance are all new to me but Jel is showing another side of music I've been missing out on.

Jel is a master with an MPC, but this album left me a little disappointed. There are a few jems on this album, but all-in-all it doesn't feel as cohesive as I would like.

This album was alright. I've heard Jel on "10 Seconds" and on many other Anticon songs, and i have to say that i mostly enjoy his work. For the most part, i enjoyed this album also.

However, some of the tracks felt a little too overproduced for my tastes. "Nice Last" would be a good example of this. This song was originally released on the Anticon 1994 to 2004 label sampler, and it was a good song. However, on this album, Jel apparently felt that the track needed to be a little re-worked. The result is just bad: needless samples abound, odd breaks, and pointless sound effects that ruin the original song.

The better songs on this album are where Jel is just straightforward with the music, as opposed to jazzing it up with cheesy effects and out-of-context scratched samples. Songs like "Know You Don't" or "All Around".

And, on a final note, Jel should stop trying to rap. Sometimes it's not all that bad, such as "To Buy A Car", or in the rap group Themselves, bad most the time he sounds like a cheap political version MC Lars...ugh.