Search - Jel :: Greenball

Great Downbeat with Hip Hop Oomph

jrauga | Seattle, WA USA | 08/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album. People always ask what I'm playing when I have this on. It has a lot in common with the downbeat realm of Zero 7, Thievery Corp, etc, but with a solid hip hop sensibility underlying that manifests through head noddable beats and a sound that is a little harder and rawer than the above listed groups, but in a very good way. He uses a few vocal samples, all of which are deftly incorporated and make you want more, but for the most part it's pure instrumental. Jel definitely pulls in sounds from realms outside of the usual hip hop cannon, and avoids the traps of monotony that most hip hop instrumental projects suffer from. No matter how bangin' a beat is, you're going to get bored after a couple listens to a 4 minute track that doesn't work transitions. Jel knows this and he alternately keeps his songs short, or gives them plenty of transitions to maintain freshness.
This album is definitely the place to start for Jel. 10 Seconds is good, but Greenball is better. He's also responsible for production on albums by "Them" with rapper Dose One. I like some of that, and Dose One's verse on the Deep Puddle Dynamics track "The Scarecrow Speaks" is brilliant, but on the whole I much prefer to hear Jel's music stand alone, and this album is the one. Don't sweat the lack of reviews, trust me, get it.
Petestrumentals is the only other hip hop instrumental album that I really listen to, and I like Greenball better. Less jazzy, but more varied and eclectic, and the pacing is brilliant. I don't skip a single track."

Jel is dope beats music, sick travelling music

PrichardDJams | Honolulu, Hawaii United States | 11/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really like this album. I had never thought Jel was like this when i heard of Presage. Presage is Dose-one, Jel, and Mr. Dibbs. I really like MR. Dibbs, his beats are amazing and his live stuff is even better. His music may resemble DJ Shadow's, but the two are different. Jels is like the beat heavy mellow cousin of the [duck] nose platypus, dibbs, with the same fun as presage minus the whole conspiracy theme. I highly recommend this album. Great Tracks: Your Mother, Untitled, john brown's birthday, center city, nah the whole album bumps like budunkadunkdunk. BUY THIS NOW!"