RIP DJ MEHDI

I make a big deal out of French house a lot because it is what opened the flood gates to my adoration of dance music. I didn’t listen to a whole lot of DJ Mehdi as I do a lot of other DJs, but there was nothing that he put out that I didn’t like. He was one of the best, and represented the very best in hip-hop and dance music.

Coming into the office on the morning of September 13th, I was set to start piecing together what eventually became my review of SebastiAn’s recent show in San Francisco at Mezzanine. I was so excited to write about SebastiAn, French house, Ed Banger Records and their influence on local San Fran label Our House Records; all of it with a very sunny disposition. But as soon as I sat down and got comfortable, I saw RIP DJ MEHDI as a trending topic on Twitter. My heart sank. Cruel fate had taken a very integral part of a section of music that I hold so absolutely close to my heart.

Advertisement

SebastiAn – Mezzanine 9/10/2011[Review]

Last Saturday at Mezzanine, Ed Banger Records’ SebastiAn headlined with a live set that showed off his signature hard, crisp, glitch-heavy French-electro sound. I had been yearning to see SebastiAn for quite some time. The openers for the French-house DJ were three acts local to San Francisco: Niteppl, Realboy and Nisus.

Local EDM label Our House Records, who co-promoted the event with Blasthaus, was founded by Realboy. As a band and label, they are heavily influenced by the French-house sound that SebastiAn and the entire Ed Rec Crew are synonymous with. It’s also a genre of dance music that I hold very near and dear to my heart, and it goes without saying that my anticipation levels for the evening were quite high.

Realboy members Daniel Gomez and Austin D. Jacobsen. Photo by Joey Pangilinan

Niteppl, an electronic-dance band, were close to finishing up their set as my friends and I arrived, and had already gotten the crowd into a nice little sweat. Following them up was their label mate, Realboy. I caught a portion of Realboy’s set at Milk Bar a few days prior, and liked what I heard. At Mezzanine, their DJ-set was a gloriously endless stream of thumping house beats with sprinkles of well-meshed distorted electro here and there. Although Realboy members Daniel Gomez and Austin D. Jacobsen aren’t old enough to purchase an alcoholic drink at any of the Mezzanine’s bars, they should be commended for their knowledge on how to properly DJ a party.

Nisus. Photo by Joey Pangilinan.

I had seen Nisus open for Boys Noize on two separate occasions, and just like before, he incited a whole lot of dancing at Mezzanine. Not only did he drop his sweet re-edit of Duck Sauce’s “Big Bad Wolf,” he did so whilst sporting one gnarly looking beard. Nisus was also sporting a San Francisco Giants cap, and I’m sure others in the crowd had the same reaction I did when he first came on stage: “the heck is Brian Wilson doing up there?” It will be really fun to see him spin again this weekend when he opens up for Crookers at the Mighty.

SebastiAn. Photo by Joey Pangilinan.

SebastiAn

The French House style (sometimes called French Touch) in dance music was emblazoned and popularized in the minds of music lovers in the 1990s mostly because of Daft Punk. Fast forward to over a decade later, and French House is still popular as ever. Daft Punk’s former manager Busy P is now running the dance label Ed Banger Records. So it’s really no surprise that the French Touch continues on. Part of the stable of artist at Ed Banger includes Busy P himself, Justice and SebastiAn.

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to see some of my most favorite DJ-acts including Boys Noize, A-Trak and of course Justice. SebastiAn on the other hand, is one of those few that I have yet to see, and am completely dying for an opportunity to see live and in person.