DJ Mehdi's sophomore album from 2006 gets a welcome repress to celebrate its 10 year anniversary, complete with CD version and gatefold sleeve. The Parisian DJ and producer impressed us with his Chromeo-featuring, velvet rope-dissecting single "I Am Somebody," but Lucky Boy shows the man to be a far more diverse producer than that track would've suggested. The woefully short "Signatune" sounds like an intro for the best song that Daft Punk never made, but falls away after just a minute. (DJs, get to work!) "Pony Rocking" not only features bumping drums and a fuzzy electro bassline, but also Uffie's producer and Ed Banger labelmate Feadz on the distorted chipmunk old school flow. Fafi shows up on "Lucky Boy," which sounds like Portishead on Prozac (or something). "Hot-O-Momo" features Xanax and comes closest to reproducing the vintage feel of "I Am Somebody" except more of a lost Prince track than a lost Chromeo joint.Mehdi's prolific career was sadly cut short due to a freak accident in 2011, but thankfully he left some real musical gems with us before leaving this dimension. 14 tracks; 47 minutes.

• 10th anniversary edition
• CD version included
• gatefold sleeve
• music label: Ed Banger 2015

reviewed by CL-R 03/2017