Soft Money:Jel

Artist: Jel

Date Released: February 28, 2006

Label: Anticon

Produced By:

Tracklisting:
 * 1) To Buy a Car
 * 2) All Day Breakfast
 * 3) No Solution
 * 4) All Around
 * 5) Thrashin
 * 6) Sweet Cream In It
 * 7) Soft Money, Dry Bones
 * 8) Know You Don't
 * 9) WMD
 * 10) Mislead
 * 11) Nice Last
 * 12) Chipmunk Technique

Review: The man responsible for laying down the foundation to the always ecclectic Anticon emcees, Chicago-born Jeffrey James Logan aka Jel, returns to the centerstage with Soft Money, 4 years after his last proper solo outing on Mush (though he did release the limited Greenball 2 in 2004). With his notorious SP-1200 by his side, the extremely productive beatmaker has matured his sound thanks to more recent side-projects including 13 & God and Subtle. The music is more melodic and down-to-earth than previously, though the snare-heavy breaks are still front and center and demanding most of your attention. On a couple tracks, especially Sweet Cream In It, Jel even sounds like a poor man's RJD2. Thanks to a slew of guest artists including labelmates Odd Nosdam, Dosh, Yoni & Josiah Wolf (from Why?), and Pedestrian along with Wise Intelligent (Poor Righteous Teachers), Steffi Bohm (Ms. John Soda), Andrew Border (Fog), and Hervé Salters (General Electrics), Jel's sound varies depending on who he is collaborating with. The styles jump from straight ahead poltical rap to trip-hop to even an Indian-tinged track, All Day Breakfast, which may be the best cut on the album. But no matter the style, Jel's raw beats remain the constant force that drives the album throughout, so longtime fans will not be disappointed. Soft Money is definitely one of the more straight-ahead Anticon albums, though that is not necessarily a good thing. Mpardaiolo