One year ago today, the legendary French musician Philippe Zdar passed away. 1/2 of Cassius, 1/2 of Motorbass, 1/2 of La Funk Mob, 1/6 of Club 75; one of the world’s most sought-after mix engineers, producers, DJs. If you’ve never heard of Zdar it’s ok. I’ll share a few stories.

If you talk to ANYONE who’s ever met Philippe, their face lights up right away. It’s rare to see someone have such a life-changing, positive impact on so many people. He had this sort of radiance, a life force, a warmth and a depth of knowledge that were contagious.

I first heard of Zdar back around 2004-5. My brother’s band @chromeo released their first album on @TurboRecordings, @tiga’s label. They mixed the album themselves, but @tiga suggested getting Zdar to do new mixes of the singles “Needy Girl” & “Rage”.

The guys were huge fans of @wearephoenix’s first album United, which Zdar mixed. Of course everyone knew about Cassius, cornerstones of French Touch. And we knew about La Funk Mob too: Zdar and @boombass_paris’s funky 90s trip-hop project on @mowaxofficial.

Right from the start there were warning signs about working with Zdar: he doesn’t listen to anyone! He works on all analog gear and once he does your mix you can’t really change anything! He’s an ARTISTE! But he was also a visionary genius and a total sweetheart.

Dave and Pee ended up hiring him to mix their whole next album, Fancy Footwork, which was their breakout project. He did the follow-up (Business Casual) too. In both cases, my brother sat in on the mixing sessions in Paris and would come home with stories for days (years!).

Somewhere in the meantime, I got to meet Philippe (and Hubert!) myself. I think our first DJ gig together was in Dublin. And then, through years of travels with Mehdi and Busy P @edbangerrecords, we had many wonderful hangs, esp in Ibiza where Zdar spent full summers.

Zdar was an artisan. He talked about his machines like collaborators. Dave would tell me stories about his WALL of Pulteq EQs, the reverb plate at his studio, the custom signal chains he created for drums, his magical little kickdrum that he layered on all songs (“le kikoo!”).

At a time when music was becoming more and more of a laptop craft, Zdar maintained the magic of a bygone era. But because he was also an electronic DJ, his work sounded modern!

He was also a storyteller. His love and reverence for his Cassius partner Hubert ( @Boombass_Paris) was palpable. Hubert was the son of legendary French engineer Dominique Blanc-Francard (who worked with Gainsbourg!), and brother of French soul artist Sinclair.

But what transpired the most about Philippe was his sense of something that is distinctly French (and Italian! lol), which is a lot more rare in the US: “l’art de vivre”. The art of living. The European version of this is not about luxury, it’s not snobbish at all.

It’s simply: knowing where and how to get your shirt tailored. Knowing where to get the perfect pasta (and what defines a perfect pasta). Your watch might not LOOK fancy but those who know, know. But also, mastering the art of “la conversation”. Joy, friendship, family, culture!

We grew up in Montreal, imbibed in what is called la Francophonie: a shared culture between all the countries that speak French (despite the ugly colonial history of this concept). We went to a lycée school, our teachers were from France. Our mom grew up in Casablanca.

Philippe was versed in a culture that was deeply familiar to us. What’s more, to me personally, there was something so moving about my big brother forging a friendship with someone who was becoming like HIS big brothers. THAT’s the love I have for Zdar.

So, along with these stories, would you like to hear some of the music he touched? From @wearephoenix @SebTellier @etiennedecrecy @hot_chip Cat Power @beastieboys @itsTheRapture @Franz_Ferdinand @chromeo @kindness + many more…

Here is a new playlist that starts with a wonderful tribute song, and then digs into his vast catalog: https://lnk.to/tributetozdarpl 

There is also this @applemusic playlist that @chromeo made last year right after his passing: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/current-mood-chromeo-zdardust/pl.b9db6d02d9c6400fb4abd4b83dc3c2a1

And if you want to get a glimpse of his studio magic, this is a great video where he breaks down @wearephoenix Lisztomania:

By the way, Kanye & Jay sampled Cassius’ “I <3 U So” on Watch The Throne (“Why I Love You”). And I was fortunate to get a Cassius remix 2 years ago, for DJs Gotta Dance More with @djtoddterry: https://open.spotify.com/album/0h7YA6q48FB1aQsZR0L8au?si=EgtzObZfTK6bhr-w4--fsg

It's impossible to make sense of death. But when I think of some of the close friends we lost -- Dust, Zdar, Mehdi, Chynna, Raida, AM... -- these were all people who had such strong points of view, I feel like they can stay with us because of that. I am changed by all of them.

(Correction: while @Chromeo’s first album was indeed released on @turborecordings it was their french label V2 who suggested getting Zdar to mix the singles.)