Cat Power and -M- teamed up to cover Cassius’s 2005 song “Toot Toot” to honor the late Philippe Cerboneschi (aka Zdar) who died on June 19, 2019 after accidentally falling from a 19-story building in Paris, France. Both, Charlyn Marshall, who goes by the stage name Cat Power and French rock-singer and songwriter, Matthieu Chedid, who goes by the stage name, -M-, worked with Zdar over the past decade.

Marshall started working with Zdar back in 2012 after she heard the Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and wanted to use the album’s sound engineer, Zdar, to mix her upcoming album Sun. Per Pitchfork, Marshall claimed she didn’t have enough money at the time to pay Zdar until Sun generated revenue. He agreed and she sent her work overseas to Zdar’s French studio for mixing. Upon release, Sun ended up being her highest ranked album debuting at number 10 on the 2012 Billboard 200.

The two collaborated again in 2016 when, Zdar asked Marshall and Beastie Boys’ Mike Diamond to sing on Zdar’s Cassius album, Ibifornia. Marshall sang on the “Go Up”, “Feel Like Me”, “Go Up – XXL” and “Action – XXL” tracks. This was the last time Zdar and Marshall would ever work together.

-M-, who holds the greatest number of Victoires de la Musique awards, the French equivalent to the Grammy Awards, started working with Zdar in 2017. Zdar mixed two of -M-‘s albums, Lamomali in 2017 and Lettre infinite in 2019 right before Zdar’s death. Three months later, Cassius co-producer Boombass asked -M- to remix “Grand petit con”  which was released late last year.

Cat Power and -M-‘s remake of “Toop Toop”is a bluesy version of the EDM original. The tone color consists of a singer and an acoustic guitar. The vocals have a lot of feeling behind them while the guitarist plays a very catchy groove. It is well produced and crystal clear. “Toot Toot” is a great tribute to their friend and late former colleague, Zdar, who died at age 52.

Please click here to read about another recent Zdar tribute.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried