DJ Mehdi

You may not recognise the name but DJ Mehdi has been synonymous with the Parisian hip-hop and electronic scenes for more than a decade now. His production and remixing résumé reads like a roll call for every major club act in France: Daft Punk, Cassius, MC Solaar, Super Discount, Versatile, not to mention non-Frenchies like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carole King and our very own k-os. With the scorching hot Ed Banger and Because labels behind him, Mehdi’s looking to make a name for himself, and Lucky Boy certainly offers a strapping handshake. Deemed a "future break dance album,” the producer isn’t far off his goal. He ropes in Canadian electro pranksters Chromeo to add their radiant slickness and announce his arrival on "I Am Somebody,” a track that demonstrates his talent for recreating the union between ’80s electro and soul. "Pony Rocking” is the epitome of Ed Banger’s calling card, instilling old school hip-hop breaks and scratches into a contemporary slice of electro, while the title track, featuring Fafi on vocals, saddles up for a ride that would stimulate Ms. Alison Goldfrapp. Lucky Boy is no doubt a constant rush conceived for a heavy night of clubbing, and for its majority it works. However, there’s something lacking to make this an essential album; it never feels like Mehdi is willing to progress beyond the work he’s already done, and thus risks the chance of becoming stagnant. He’s certainly one cool cat, but when touring with the likes of envelope pushers like SebastiAn and Justice, he’s got to pull out all the stops to avoid falling behind.