Soft Money (album)
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Soft Money
| type = studio
| artist = Jel
| cover = JelSoftMoney.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2006|02|20}}{{cite web|url=http://www.anticon.com/item/soft-money|title=Soft Money|work=Anticon|date=February 20, 2006|access-date=April 6, 2018}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Hip hop
| length = {{Duration|m=40|s=16}}
| label = Anticon
| producer = Jel
| prev_title = 10 Seconds
| prev_year = 2002
| next_title = Late Pass
| next_year = 2013
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Soft Money
| type = studio
| single1 = WMD / All Around
| single1date = January 16, 2006{{cite web|url=http://www.anticon.com/item/wmd-all-around|title=WMD / All Around|work=Anticon|date=January 16, 2006|access-date=April 6, 2018}}
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
| MC = 67/100{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/soft-money/jel|title=Soft Money by Jel|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/soft-money-mw0000351564|title=Soft Money - Jel|work=AllMusic|first=David|last=Jeffries|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
| rev2 = BBC
| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A9978051|title=Jel 'Soft Money'|work=BBC|first=Martin|last=Longley|date=March 9, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110132209/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A9978051|archive-date=November 10, 2006|access-date=April 6, 2018}}
| rev3 = Cokemachineglow
| rev3score = 59/100{{cite web|url=http://www.cokemachineglow.com/reviews/jel_soft2005.html|title=Jel: Soft Money|work=Cokemachineglow|first=Chet|last=Betz|date=March 27, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203082341/http://www.cokemachineglow.com/reviews/jel_soft2005.html|archive-date=February 3, 2007|access-date=June 15, 2018}}
| rev4 = East Bay Express
| rev4score = favorable{{cite web|url=http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/jel/Content?oid=1080510|title=Jel|work=East Bay Express|first=Eric K.|last=Arnold|date=March 1, 2006|access-date=June 15, 2018}}
| rev5 = Exclaim!
| rev5score = mixed{{cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/jel-soft_money|title=Jel - Soft Money|work=Exclaim!|first=Thomas|last=Quinlan|date=March 1, 2006|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
| rev6 = Pitchfork
| rev6score = 6.0/10{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4233-soft-money/|title=Jel: Soft Money|work=Pitchfork|first=Brian|last=Howe|date=May 9, 2006|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
| rev7 = Prefix
| rev8 = SF Weekly
| rev8score = favorable{{cite web|url=http://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/jel/Content?oid=2159040|title=Jel - Soft Money|work=SF Weekly|first=Chris|last=Dahlen|date=February 1, 2006|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
| rev9 = The Skinny
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs/reviews/jel-soft-money|title=Jel - 'Soft Money'|work=The Skinny|first=Bram|last=Gieben|date=February 15, 2006|access-date=April 6, 2018}}
| rev10 = Stylus Magazine
| rev10score = C+{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/jel/soft-money.htm|title=Jel - Soft Money|work=Stylus Magazine|first=Cameron|last=Macdonald|date=February 28, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630085032/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/jel/soft-money.htm|archive-date=June 30, 2013|access-date=June 5, 2017}}
}}
Soft Money is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Jel. It was released on Anticon on February 20, 2006. "WMD / All Around" was released as a single from the album.
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Soft Money received an average score of 67% based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Brian Howe of Pitchfork gave the album a 6.0 out of 10, describing it as "a murky palimpsest of disembodied samples and dirty beats, incantatory rhymes and live instrumentation, leftist rhetoric and absurdist non sequiturs, breathy female vocals and ephemeral melodies". Martin Longley of BBC said: "There are few dynamic surprises here, and no serrated edges, but this disc's strength lies in its building mass of lumbering, decelerated funk, its textures gluey and thick." Luciana Lopez of XLR8R said: "The album slices and dices genres throughout, and the music sounds all the better for it."{{cite web|url=http://www.xlr8r.com/reviews/soft-money|title=Jel: Soft Money|work=XLR8R|first=Luciana|last=Lopez|date=March 1, 2006|access-date=April 17, 2018}} Bram Gieben of The Skinny gave the album 4 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the most rewarding Anticon releases so far."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| title1 = To Buy a Car
| length1 = 2:55
| title2 = All Day Breakfast
| length2 = 4:18
| title3 = No Solution
| length3 = 3:37
| title4 = All Around
| length4 = 3:21
| title5 = Thrashin
| length5 = 4:03
| title6 = Sweet Cream in It
| length6 = 2:16
| title7 = Soft Money, Dry Bones
| length7 = 3:39
| title8 = Know You Don't
| length8 = 3:34
| title9 = WMD
| length9 = 4:36
| title10 = Mislead
| length10 = 1:56
| title11 = Nice Last
| length11 = 4:25
| title12 = Chipmunk Technique
| length12 = 1:36
}}
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
- Jel – writing, production, performance, recording, arrangement
- Odd Nosdam – additional recording, mixing, editing, song arrangement, sounds, filter play, drone (8)
- Yoni Wolf – piano (2), synthesizer (2)
- Josiah Wolf – bass guitar (2)
- Andrew Broder – guitar (3)
- Dosh – Rhodes piano (3), sampler (3)
- Alexander Kort – cello (3)
- Stefanie Böhm – words (4), vocals (4, 7), guitar (4)
- Harvey Salters – synthesizer (4), keyboards (8)
- Pedestrian – words (7)
- Wise Intelligent – words (9), vocals (9)
- Adam Drucker – cover art design, sculpture, photography
- Erin Perry – cover art design, sculpture, photography
- Wes Winship – font, layout
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|58896|Soft Money}}
{{Jel}}
{{Authority control}}