Contrary to what the title suggests, Jel's first solo full-length isn'tan overt political message (of any stripe), set to SP-1200instrumentation. While Soft Money isn't socially ignorant—it hits on anti-commercialism as well as theever-relevant war on terror—the Oakland-based producer instead letswhat he can do with the sampler take the stage. For most, it's a savvymove—there's plenty to occupy the right ears. But be warned: in thewrong hands Soft Money will be a snoozer.Anticon
Still riding the wave from last year's successful ocean- andgenre-crossing project 13+God, Soft Money finds Jel returning to whatheknows best: crafting music with his tried and true SP-1200. Andhe makes it easy to hear why the antiquiated sampler is such anindustryfavorite, techonological constraints aside it's a most flexibletool,allowing Jel to transition smoothly from sparse and scratchy to busyand organic with utmost ease. It is forced (SP users are limited to10-second snippets) but unless you knew you might not notice. Jelworks through the limitations, hammering together a busy layer ofmusic: chopped drums, guitars, electric piano, and vocal samples. Theresult is like a wll of aural dim sum: there's plenty to feast on, even if theservings are small.
Even when it gets dense and dark, Soft Money iseasy to dive get into; all the more easy aid the half dozen guests—oneeach from every stage in Jel's career, it seems—shine when calledupon, whether it's anticon labelmate Dosh's signature Fender Rhodessighing above a dirty breakbeat on "No Solution," or Ms. John Soda'sSteffi Böhm's duet with the bleeps and bloops of the SP, "All Around."But there's something missing: for all its beatcraft, Soft Money isshort on purpose. Rare are the moments crackling with tangible energyor vitality like Wise Intelligent's tirade on "WMD" or the blunt but fundig at consumerism in the opener "To Buy a Car." Even those are shots at the easy targets. Otherwise, Soft Money ebbs and flows along, propelled by thepulsing of the bass lines and the breakbeat snares and little else.
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