You likely know by now, as news broke late last night, one of electronic dance music's most influential people has passed. Philippe Cerboneschi, more widely known as Philippe Zdar, fell from a building in Paris, dying at age 52. However, his presence will remain with us forever. A true pioneer, he was perhaps best known for his part in the duo
Cassius, but his masterful mixing skills and undeniable ear sent his musical fingerprints in seemingly infinite directions. His production credits range from
Franz Ferdinand and
Kanye West to
Chromeo and
Phoenix. And while his time on this plane of existence is complete, we can expect more new music from him as two albums lay in wait for tomorrow as he contributed to
Hot Chip's
A Bathful Of Ecstasy and indeed
Cassius' first album in three years,
Dreems.
While waiting for those final bits to be released, I did a little
Throwback Thursday by retracing some of my favourite Zdar in the playlist below. I'll leave you with that, encourage you to read an insightful piece from
Laura Snapes on
The Guardian here, and, if you feel compelled, do some digging of your own - the reach of Philippe Zdar is, as I said, seemingly infinite. RIP Philippe, thanks for everything...
