We are saddened to hear we lost one of the pioneers of French house, Philippe Zdar, member of Cassius duo. You may know Cassius from their mainstream hit “1999”, or Avicii & Sebastien Drums remake of “My Feeling for You” that we play on air.
Cassius emerged during the French house movement in the 90s amongst Modjo, Daft Punk, and Stardust with their disco acid house tracks that caught on, but Zdar was much more well-rounded.
Zdar produced tracks for French rapper MC Solaar whom you might recognize from the song “Le Belle et Le Bad Boy” on the Sex and the City series finale. He also worked on the entire fourth Phoenix album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, with the familiar songs Lisztomania, 1901, and Fences winning a Grammy award for Best Alternative Music Album. Electro-funk duo Chromeo also credits Zdar for playing a huge role in developing their sound as he mixed their entire first two albums along with their worldwide club hit “Needy Girl”.
He was said to have fallen from a building in Paris last night, but police are still investigating. We are so used to hearing mainstream names and seeing headliners, but this is a reminder that there are many talented people that work behind the scenes in the music industry that play an extremely important role in the success of one hit song that could change your life forever.
Cassius comeback album Dreems is scheduled to release June 21.
