Cassius’ Philippe ‘Zdar’ Cerboneschi has died

Legendary producer and pioneer of the French Touch sound  Philippe ‘Zdar’ Cerboneschi has died.

According to a statement given by his agent to French newspaper Le Monde, the influential Cassius and Motorbass artist died after accidentally falling from a “a high floor of a Parisian building".

Zdar founded Cassius alongside Hubert Blanc-Francard in 1989, releasing their iconic debut album, ‘1999’, ten years later. In the mid-90s he joined Etienne De Crécy to form Motorbass. The duo’s solo album, ‘Pansoul’, is considered one of the most influential electronic records to ever come out of France, and a touchstone of the unmistakable French Touch sound.

An acclaimed and beloved producer and DJ, Zdar had worked with many popular artists over the years including Kanye West, MC Solaar, Beastie Boys, Cat Power and Pharrell. His work on Parisian pop rock band Phoenix’s debut album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ in 2009 would go on to earn him a grammy.

Cassius’ new album, ‘Dreams’, is scheduled to be released this Friday 21st June.

Tributes have been pouring in for Zdar since news of his tragic death broke, with the likes of The Black Madonna, Skream, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam and Hudson Mohawke taking to Twitter to share their condolences for the pivotal artist.

RIP Philippe Zdar, a visionary and tectonic force who shaped the geography of modern dance music. I am so sorry to the many friends who mourn his sudden and terrible loss tonight.

— THE BLACK MADONNA (@blackmadonnachi) June 20, 2019

philippe zdar was such a huge inspiration. i remember spending weeks mastering ‘unbelievers’ — putting it up against phoenix’s ‘1901’ as the benchmark of an incredible mix, —nothing could touch it. we had to mix it over and over again just to get close.

— Rostam (@matsoR) June 20, 2019

Will never forget making this and him telling me it made him feel 20 again hence the name of the remix.
In genuine shock :(https://t.co/Ovqx9FvMPN

— Oliver Jones (@I_Skream) June 20, 2019