Monta At Odds – Unsuspecting

Monta At Odds is a Kansas City combo led by the brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore. The two have played music together all their lives and have been exploring the Monta At Odds sound since the band’s formation in the year 2000. Dedric’s pulsing, melodic bass and Delaney’s artfully unhinged synthesizers frame the band’s central character, which is fleshed out by a talented cast of musicians and collaborators.

Originally released in 2005, Unsuspecting is Monta At Odds’ stunning debut. The band crafted a widely regarded album that captured their passion for dub, blunted jazz, spaced-out post-rock, hypnotic ambient music, and abstract funk. Instead of crossing musical boundaries, Monta At Odds grabs these genres and smashes them up into a soundscape of sonic delight.

“Soft and unobtrusive, but sly and complex enough to remain safely above bland mood music, Unsuspecting presents a cohesive collection of original tracks and obscure remixes. The overwhelming emphasis on groove — rather than art or experimentation — keeps the recording from being much more than a chill-out accessory, but in a world constantly accelerated by technology, it’s nice to be reminded that machines can also be used to slow things down.” — The Pitch Magazine

“Unsuspecting is like a trip down a lost highway, slow and moody but always offering hope for what lies beyond the horizon. While Monta At Odds draw from inspirations of jazz, downtempo, and dub, their sound is an entirely unique combination of brushed snares, drifting string pads, abstract vibes, and melancholy guitar and piano, with sparse, distorted vocals. This album is for closing your eyes and drifting away … guaranteed to grow on you like a vine.” — Properly Chilled Blog

• Laurent Garnier – “Definitely the kind of music I like playing on my radio show. This is great.”
• Nick Warren – “Outstanding, of course! Timeless music is a gift to us all. The band has delivered big time on this album. Everyone should own a copy.”
• Colin Dale (Wildlife AM) – “Fantastic sound. I love this. Music to take you to other worlds.”
• ReGen Magazine – “A funky blend of abstract jazz and lush ambient textures. Sounds commonplace, right? Wrong. There is a progressive quality to the blend of styles and instrumentation that grounds this in a forward-thinking mindset that was inherent to the greats of the ’70s and early ’80s, not the least of which being Pink Floyd. Oh, it doesn’t sound like Pink Floyd, but there is that spirit, that exploratory sense of searching for a sound — something ‘other,’ something ‘outside,’ but still very human and relatable. You’ll chill, you’ll drift, but you’ll also be tense, and your nerves will be shot. You won’t know if an alien transmission by way of a King Crimson-esque freakout is touching your synapses, or if it’s the resonant voices of Earth trying to pull you back lest you float too far into the abyss. Well worth the listen.”
• Yiannis Dorakis (Rodon FM, Greece) – “The album’s overall indie-jazzed-downtempo effect is like being in Kruder & Dorfmeister’s record collection. ‘Discard’ is my favorite cut with its warm acoustic guitar and organic bass line creating a soothing Balearic tune.”
• Dean Serafini (Frisky Rhythms, Housebeat Radio) – “I can detect so many different influences in there. I’m sensing a vibe that owes much to Joy Division and to a lesser extent the Manchester and progressive sounds of the late 80s and early 90s.”
• ROBOT84 (Nervous / Nein) – “Well produced tracks, all of them sounding amazing, I can imagine this being played loads in ibiza during the summer.”
• Max Porcelli (HeavensGate Deep Radio Show) – “This brings me to another dimension.”