CFCF

Let's Kill Ourselves

Ashburn

CFCF is the moniker of Mike Silver, an indie electronic producer from Montreal, Canada, who established himself as an inventive remixer before making his commercial production debut in 2008. A self-taught musician, Silver's style has evolved and matured throughout the years, ranging from his earliest hip-hop production experiments to chiptunes, progressing to the Balearic disco of debut full-length Continent (2009) and ambient/new age explorations like 2015's The Colours of Life. Throughout much of his work during the 2010s, Silver has exhibited a sincere appreciation for "uncool" genres such as soft rock and smooth jazz. He is also co-credited with developing the concept of "night bus," an Internet-spawned movement that encompasses feelings rather than specific genres of music. CFCF was nominated for Best Remixed Recording at the 2015 Grammy Awards, for his remix of <a href="spotify:artist:2VZNmg4vCnew4Pavo8zDdW">Max Richter</a>'s "Berlin by Overnight." His subsequent work has explored his formative influences, with 2019's Liquid Colours re-creating the commercial side of atmospheric drum'n'bass and 2021's Memoryland evoking several styles of electronica and alternative rock.

A music-maker since age 12, Silver first made a name for himself as CFCF with a series of unofficial remixes in 2007 that included <a href="spotify:artist:7K3zpFXBvPcvzhj7zlGJdO">Crystal Castles</a>' "Air War," <a href="spotify:artist:1gR0gsQYfi6joyO1dlp76N">Justice</a>'s "Phantom," and <a href="spotify:artist:27FGXRNruFoOdf1vP8dqcH">Cassie</a>'s "Me & U." These bootleg remixes circulated exclusively online, and their popularity led to a series of commercially available remixes in 2008 that included <a href="spotify:artist:6FfjnGXMhxSsJTuGLWBDth">Health</a>'s "Triceratops," <a href="spotify:artist:0Guuvi7P0R6ZuX2DeL1m9M">Sally Shapiro</a>'s "Time to Let Go," and <a href="spotify:artist:3iW3xACztLZanYgwCXSYAx">Heartsrevolution</a>'s "Choose Your Own Adventure." Having established himself sufficiently as an inventive remixer, Silver made his production debut as CFCF in 2009 with a 7" single on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ac%C3%A9phale%22">Acéphale</a> label, You Hear Colours. Limited to 500 copies on white vinyl, You Hear Colours was widely circulated in the music blogosphere and drummed up plenty of anticipation for Panesian Nights (2009), a video game-inspired seven-track EP released on the fashionable Toronto-based label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Paper+Bag+Records%22">Paper Bag Records</a>. One of the EP's tracks, "The Explorers," was remade with guest vocals by <a href="spotify:artist:0Guuvi7P0R6ZuX2DeL1m9M">Sally Shapiro</a> and released as a four-track single. CFCF's first full-length album, Continent, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Paper+Bag%22">Paper Bag</a> in November of that same year. The record was a remarkably mature effort, distilling Silver's many influences (including Italo-disco, piano house, <a href="spotify:artist:08GQAI4eElDnROBrJRGE0X">Fleetwood Mac</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:39x9e2QDpAxK8xTuJDwRqR">Junior Boys</a>) into a cohesive, expressive sound. This was followed by Drifts, a six-track remix EP featuring Continent tracks reworked by <a href="spotify:artist:39x9e2QDpAxK8xTuJDwRqR">Junior Boys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0T1n7Qbe4vwYIu42mB6qXe">Memoryhouse</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5xfJLyvC5UElVSiMuLt1ss">Young Galaxy</a> (whose former drummer Andrea Silver is Mike's sister), and others.

In 2010, CFCF began garnering attention for his innovative online mixtapes that seamlessly blended numerous genres of music (from melancholic R&B and hip-hop to ambient and Krautrock to soft rock), particularly Do U Like Night Bus?, one of the defining mixes of the moody "night bus" genre. His original music began to shift further away from dance music, with influences such as <a href="spotify:artist:1tcgfoMTT1szjUeaikxRjA">Ryuichi Sakamoto</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7Fo8TAyGJr4VmhE68QamMf">Talk Talk</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2oyWkw7sq99yqj12hVUHtw">David Sylvian</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7C4sUpWGlTy7IANjruj02I">Peter Gabriel</a> playing a major part in shaping his sound. New York City-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rvng+Intl.%22">Rvng Intl.</a> released The River, an EP heavily inspired by <a href="spotify:artist:5zeiqAaIiDrjiDch33A2lT">Popol Vuh</a>'s scores for Werner Herzog's films. CFCF also issued a more house/garage-influenced EP, Cometrue, on the New York-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22UNO%22">UNO</a> label in 2011.

In 2012, Silver launched a series of EPs that aimed to explore "the lighter side of our relationship with our surroundings." The health-minded Exercises (which featured a <a href="spotify:artist:2oyWkw7sq99yqj12hVUHtw">David Sylvian</a> cover) introduced the series that year, with Music for Objects following in 2013. Silver took a different tack on his second full-length, Outside; arriving in October 2013, the album featured more atmospheric tracks dominated by vocals. Silver declared the "death of night bus" with his Night Bus 3 mix, released online toward the end of 2014. Surprisingly, his remix of <a href="spotify:artist:2VZNmg4vCnew4Pavo8zDdW">Max Richter</a>'s "Berlin by Overnight" was nominated for Best Remixed Recording at the 2015 Grammy Awards. In late July 2015, CFCF released Radiance & Submission, an LP inspired by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Windham+Hill%22">Windham Hill</a> artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:3IqoFUpoJi1qvebL8Vi2aK">Michael Hedges</a>, on Spanish label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Driftless+Recordings%22">Driftless Recordings</a>. Two weeks later, the Canadian label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%221080p%22">1080p</a> released The Colours of Life, a more synth pop-influenced CFCF album that was recorded in 2011. The more acoustic On Vacation appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22International+Feel%22">International Feel</a> in 2016. 

In 2017, CFCF collaborated with Montreal-based pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2uHlq6ERoXk8dqRZmq2OEr">Jean-Michel Blais</a> on an EP titled Cascades. Released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arts+%26+Crafts%22">Arts & Crafts</a>, the set included an interpretation of <a href="spotify:artist:1Z3fF5lZdCM0ZHugkGoH8s">John Cage</a>'s "In a Landscape." Self Service, a three-song EP of lush, atmospheric dance tracks, was issued by SOBO in 2018. Liquid Colours, a continuous suite of ambient jungle tracks, was released through Silver's own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BGM+Solutions%22">BGM Solutions</a> imprint in 2019. Memoryland, which arrived in 2021, channeled many of Silver's early influences, from <a href="spotify:artist:1PXHzxRDiLnjqNrRn2Xbsa">Underworld</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4YrKBkKSVeqDamzBPWVnSJ">Basement Jaxx</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:40Yq4vzPs9VNUrIBG5Jr2i">Smashing Pumpkins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>. Memoryland Enhanced, its 2022 companion release, consisted of remixes, alternate versions, and additional tracks. ~ Jason Birchmeier & Paul Simpson, Rovi

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CFCF: Xmas

CFCF: The Stuff I Dig

CFCF: at the Santa Monica Pier @ sunrise in a cowboy hat

CFCF: Classical & Beyond

CFCF: gen X adult contemporary

Remixed by CFCF

Facebook: CFCF 
Instagram: @cfcfmusic
Twitter/X: @cfcfmusic
TikTok: @cfcfmusic

CFCF - On Vacation

CFCF - Liquid Colours

CFCF - December 25, 1999

From the new album 'memoryland'.
Pre-save the album now: https://cfcf.ffm.to/memoryland
Stream: https://cfcf.ffm.to/heaven

Footage & Editing by Alex Cook
Animation by Daylen Seu

CFCF - Heaven feat. Sarah Bonito [Official Visualizer]

From the deluxe edition, 'memoryland enhanced'.
Pre-save now: https://cfcf.ffm.to/enhanced.oyd
Stream: https://cfcf.ffm.to/indiesong.oyd
Scenes from 
Passing Summer (Mein langsames Leben), 2001
and 
Places in Cities (Plätze in Städten), 1998
dir. Angela Schanelec.

CFCF - Indiesong (Official Visualizer)

From CFCF's new album 'Liquid Colours', out July 12 on BGM Solutions.
iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/liquid-colours/1468630760?ls=1&app=itunes
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/3NGEuL2LjnsbvEoRS2ZnwK
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/liquid-colours/1468630760?ls=1

Follow CFCF:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/73IRH...
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CFCFmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CFCFmusic
Soundcloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/cfcf

Art Direction & Design: Ben Sifel http://www.bensifel.com
3D Animation: Andrew Strasser http://www.andrewstrasser.com/vfx
Edited by Michael Silver

CFCF - Healing Kurage [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

http://cfcf.bandcamp.com
released December 21, 2018 
written & produced by cfcf, december 2015 - december 2018.

The end of the millennium. Our hopes for the future manifest as good tidings to all as we celebrate the last holiday of a lifetime. But it's impossible to deny that it feels as though something is about to be lost forever. After all, it wouldn't be Christmas if it didn't feel like we'd lost something... In the glowing 21st century, will we be nostalgic for our lost future? Will we ever get to the impossible place we seem to think we're going? 

All proceeds from this single will go to Projet 10, a local, community-oriented nonprofit based in Montréal, Québec that works to promote the personal, social, sexual and mental well-being of lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, intersexed and questioning youth and adults aged 14-25. 
p10.qc.ca 


This is a digital-only, Bandcamp-exclusive release (for now)

CFCF - 12_25_99 (y2k bug mix)

From the album 'On Vacation' (International Feel)
Footage from 'Faro-dokument'.

CFCF

You Can Live Forever (Original Motion Picture Score)

Blowing Up The Workshop 48

memoryland enhanced

memoryland

Liquid Colours

On Vacation

The Colours of Life

Radiance & Submission

Outside

Music For Objects

Let's Kill Ourselves

ultra-obscene! (Piel a Piel)

U Stole the Summer (CFCF Remix)

Never Going Home

Grace (CFCF Remix)

Sunrise Blue

Indiesong

Self Service 1999 (Instupendo Remix)

Light Disguise

Heaven

Philip Glass: Piano Works

Fantasy Special Edition

Enemy Remixed

Apocalypso

This Is CFCF

CFCF Radio