Oddjobs (as well as Kill the Vultures later) were part of a regional hip-hop subculture based in the Twin Cities which developed in the mid-1990s and included Atmosphere and the Rhymesayers collective, Eyedea & Abilities, Doomtree, Heiruspecs, and Brother Ali.

Anatomy (Lewis) and Crescent Moon (Casselle) were the core of the group, which briefly included Oddjobs rappers Advizer (Adam Waytz) and Nomi (Mario Demira).

Over time, the fact that only Anatomy and Crescent Moon lived in Minneapolis led to the group winnowing down to a de facto duo.

"'[7] Casselle and Lewis were interested in moving away from Oddjobs' comparatively straightforward hip-hop into a darker, more avant-garde direction influenced by film noir and jazz.

"[14] The new direction was acclaimed; Twin Cities Daily Planet writer Kyle Tran Myhre wrote, "Crescent Moon's rhymes are darkly poetic and evocative and Anatomy's beats are unlike anything else in the scene—cracked jazz samples, bone-crunching drums and some really dynamic arrangements.

Club named Kill The Vultures one of the best albums of 2005 from Minnesota, praising its "raw, experimental hip-hop" and the performances of the three MCs, especially the "intense, wild, biting delivery" of Crescent Moon.

At the time, Casselle was learning to play guitar and had formed a blues/folk duo, Roma di Luna, with his then-wife Channy Leanneagh.

It's like two guys tried to recreate pop music after a nuclear war using only a book of beat poetry and a Duke Ellington 78 played at 33 rpms.

Club, Christopher Bahn wrote that the band's sound combined "elements of the raw holler of old-style Delta blues and the jagged clatter of New York's brash punk-jazz scene, with beats that boom like thunder and clank like metal dropped on a factory floor".

[24] Lewis told French music website PopNews that the move to a quieter sound reflected his own nocturnal habits: "I live at night.

"[25] French rap website Hiphopcore called Midnight Pine "much more peaceful and subdued" than the "ubiquitous musical chaos" of Careless Flame; it said that Anatomy's jazz-inspired beats seemed "calmer than usual to dress up the dark, almost whispered stories of Crescent Moon in the most beautiful way.

An album about urban alienation as seen through the eyes of a man driven to commit murder, Ecce Beast was more down-tempo and cinematic in approach than earlier work.

"[27] Star Tribune critic Chris Riemenschneider called Ecce Beast "loaded with KTV's signature brand of nocturnal, gritty, experimental hip-hop.

"[29] French website Chroniques Electroniques wrote that "the ghost of the great Sun Ra hovers continuously over this album, giving it real depth.

[32][33] In a City Pages interview, Casselle said that the album reflected his personal life, having gone through a divorce and raising a child since the previous Kill the Vultures record, as well as a commentary on the state of the world.

[14] The website Hip Hop Golden Age named Carnelian one of its 100 essential jazz rap albums, calling it "the epitome of (Kill the Vultures') innovativeness, with its ominous use of saxophones, trumpets, flutes, violins, cellos, guitars, double basses, and percussion.

[37] Italian music magazine Blow Up called Carnelian " a very hard, dark album with a dense and heavy sound" and said that Kill the Vultures was "a group that still has a lot to say".

[41] In 2021, the duo performed with Italian avant-jazz collective Ghost Horse at the South Tyrol Jazz Festival northeast of Milan in Bolzano, Italy.

[42][43][44] Around 2004, Casselle formed a folk duo called Roma di Luna with his wife Channy Leaneagh, who later sang with synth-pop group Poliça.

[48] Casselle formed another hip-hop group, Mixed Blood Majority, with fellow Minneapolis musicians Lazerbeak of Doomtree and Joe Horton of No Bird Sing.