CFCF is a producer from Montreal that makes smoothed out disco jams and he’s constantly killing it so we’re proud to present you with his addition to the Mixin’ It Up series. Here we go!
“Michael Silver (aka CFCF) is one of those rare talents to whom pop sensibility seems to be second nature. The Montreal native has been making music in his bedroom since he was 12 years old, but it’s only over the past year or so that the rest of the world has been able to share in his pop experiments. Despite having just exited his teenage years, CFCF has a musical depth that constantly surprises his elders with influences ranging from Jellybean and Pete Rock to Todd Rundgren and Fleetwood Mac. This wide scope of interest in genre and pop structure and mature melodic instinct allow him to shift gears effortlessly from italo to disco to balearic to piano house and everything in between. His pop music can be sweetly melancholy or creepily disturbing, but it is always fundamentally pop.
Having first caught tastemakers’ attention with his contest winning remix of Crystal Castles “Air War”, CFCF has gone on to produce official remixes for talents such as Sally Shapiro, The Presets, HEALTH, The Teenagers and Genghis Tron among many others. For the past couple of years he has honed his fluid, eclectic and always fun DJ sets at his weekly residency with Montreal’s Saturday mainstay, Dance Dance Dance. This wide-ranging taste is also reflected on his weekly radio show, “Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth,” on internet station Viva Radio. CFCF is constantly honing his own productions and the next couple of months will see releases through Acéphale (who brought us Salem) and Paper Bag Records.”
Basically the tracklist is some of his favourite stuff over the last few years – hope you like!
Download: CFCF – Mixin’ It Up for Discobelle, dec 2008 (Sharebee)
01 Polygon Window – If It Really Is Me
To me this song really sticks out on ‘Surfing on Sine Waves’… The title is such a contrast to the rest of song titles, and that combined with its sound and melodies really sets it apart. Like an RDJ ballad. 808s and Heartbreak, as Kanye would have it, I guess.
02 Still Going – Still Going Theme
I wasn’t really aware of what was going on at DFA in the last year or two until a friend showed me this song. That piano–so crisp; the melody, so simple and versatile! It seems minimal until you dissect how much is actually happening, and then of course it seems completely epic.
03 Global Communication – 8:07
A great ambient piece in the vein of Tangerine Dream from this amazing record (’76:14′). Not much else to say about it except that it’s gorgeous. Amazing flourishes.
04 Gucci Soundsystem – Acarpenter (Joakim remix)
Kind of a creeper. The arpeggios on this are pretty unusual, the melodies are somewhat hard to grasp even if the bass is constant. I think it belongs in a scene from ‘The Running Man’.
05 Lindstrom – Another Station
This song is pretty much a perfect mix of everything I’ve liked for the past 5 years. Disco-italo-disco-piano-house-balearic-8-bit-ambient-stomper. Lindstrom is just the best, really.
06 Gavin Russom & Delia Gonzalez – Relevee (DFA remix)
Just a well produced piece of modern disco-slash-house. But I guess that goes without saying with DFA. Sounding so vintage with its elements, disco drums and house pianos but so obviously from the future…
07 In Flagranti – Effective Placebo Affect
Terrifying dance music. Terrifying in the best sense of the word of course; I like music to frighten me. This is the soundtrack for a killing spree. The murder weapon? Slap bass!
08 The Knife – Silent Shout
An obvious one from my favourite record of 2006. Hard to believe this approaching 3 years old. Everything is so fresh and crisp–the 808, the arpeggiated synth, and of course the layered pitch-transformed vocals. I remember reading that this album was based partly on Charles Burns’ graphic novel ‘Black Hole’. So when I started reading that book I had this album on constantly, whenever I picked it up. The two compliment each other perfectly.
09 Popol Vuh – Aguirre I
Haunting score from one of the best movies ever! Definitely my favorite Popol Vuh’s scores for Werner Herzog. I don’t think the chorus comes from a mellotron–I think that Florian Fricke maybe created the sounds himself using the same principle. The effect is amazing. It’s not completely synthetic but it’s not quite real either.”
BONUS TRACKS: Two new remixes that will leave you aching for more of the sweet stuff from CFCF. The first is an official remix of Femme, the up-and-coming Montreal band signed to Saboteur Records (Numero, Omnikrom). CFCF takes the glam/goth sound of the original and turns it on its ear (as he seems to do with most of his remixes), building a bridge between nightmarish vocals, a dreamy synth line and crisply light piano solos. Femme are currently working on their album which will be out at some point in the new year. The second is an unofficial revisit of recent Cassie single “Official Girl” featuring Lil Wayne. He takes this track to a darker place that still seems to glitter. It’s certainly a definite departure from his previous work, but one that we hope people will like!
Femme – Bathtub Clash (CFCF Remix) (YSI)
Femme – Bathtub Clash (CFCF Remix) (Sharebee)
Cassie – Official Girl (CFCF Remix) (YSI)
Cassie – Official Girl (CFCF Remix) (Sharebee)
