DJ Mehdi
Red, Black & Blue
In 1988 eleven-year-old Mehdi Faveris Essadi acquired his first tape: Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The rest is history and somewhat documented on this collection of remixes.
“When it comes to this remix game, I have only one rule: first there is THE BEAT. Remixing = beat making + having fun,” says Mehdi.
From the opening track–”Red, Black and Blue” (to denote the periods Mehdi’s gone through) to the closing “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex”–it’s a fresh spin on ten years of tracks. Apparently, every morning Mehdi wakes up and records a beat and sometimes his graffiti artist wife, Fafi, hums or sings along. Sometimes he pretends he can’t find the microphone. Other times he lets her in on the game. “Lucky Girl” plays like a hip love letter to the heart of Parisian artsy partnerships and sexy secrets. Then Etienne de Crecy’s soulful production “Out of my Hands” weaves into eighteen remixed seconds of New Young Pony Club’s “Ice Cream” tripping into a haunting rendition of Holy Ghost!s “I Will Come Back.” At this point, it’s official and the party is ON–Sam Sparro’s “21st Century Life” recalls the Joker-parade scene in the OG Batman blasting Prince. In other words, Mehdi’s take on Sparro channels creepy Tim Burton Gotham-esque beats with bravado overtones. This dope collection is a bit of a “whose who” in the French electronic game (Sebastien Tellier, Joakim) with some international players thrown in (Santigold, CSS). New Years Eve turntables listen up.
Word.
[...] crazy, epic shows with Club 75 (including Coachella), and the release of his remix compilation “Red, Black & Blue” (just prior to the beginning of the year). “Dear Summer” is another representation of [...]