- "KALLISTI is what was inscribed on Eris' Golden Apple as presented at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. The letters embody vanity, discord and chaos," declares the press release for d'Eon's debut release as Kallisti. It's a typically overblown conceit from the Montreal producer, whose Hippos In Tanks album LP was a 74-minute Islamo-Christian critique of the internet age. That album, released last year, explored d'Eon's various musical concerns—bedroom R&B, post-Philip Glass minimalism, Oneohtrix-style synth work—in a sprawling and often indigestible form. Elsewhere—particularly in the finer moments of his free-to-download Music For Keyboards series—he's benefitted from a more singular focus.
For Arc Of Fire, released through UNO's NORELATION label, that focus is, broadly speaking, on jungle and hardcore. The giddy sound of hardcore has long been a defining influence on d'Eon's high-density sound, and in places here that admiration tips over into genre study. "Coke Priest" is excellent darkside hardcore, and "Michael Douglas" neatly captures the style's sense of choppy intensity. On LP d'Eon was occasionally hobbled by his own self-importance, but here the mood remains cheap n' cheerful throughout. As things progress, comparisons to hardcore become more oblique. "Undercover" and "Silverdoor" exhibit what could be a pitched-up 2-step flex; "Millennial" brilliantly samples the Backstreet Boys over a quickfire beat that owes as much to footwork or contemporary hip-hop as it does to jungle; "Clubbin" and "Dancefloor" explore similarly crisp, up-to-date sound palettes. Finally, the title track is euphoric drum & bass, d'Eon style—almost absurd in its fluffiness, but charming nonetheless. If these are the results when d'Eon lets his hair down, he ought to do it more often.
TracklistA1 Coke Priest
A2 Michael Douglas
A3 Undercover
A4 Silverdoor
B1 Millennial
B2 Clubbin
B3 Dancefloor
B4 Arc of Fire