A lot of down-tempo music fits comfortably into the genre's reputation as a soundtrack for an Ecstasy comedown: slow, steady, textured grooves that lull you from a maniacal high and — in theory, at least — prepare you for the moment when you call it a night. Monta at Odds makes down-tempo music, but it's probably more likely to appeal to people who take acid in their basements than to Parisian club hoppers. Throughout its latest, Fuoco Infernale, the band splits the difference between psychedelia and chilled-out electronica. The bass lines are jam-band fat, the keyboards Kraftwerk-ominous, the tracks frequently punctuated by straight-up noise. It's a spaced-out drug hallucination of an album, ready for fans of progressively arranged experimental music to love. Tweaked-out ravers? Maybe not.
— David Hudnall
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