Album Review: Music for Objects [EP] by CFCF

Considered the companion piece to the Montreal musician's 2012 EP Exercises, CFCF's 2013 EP Music for Objects also explores "the lighter side of our relationship with our surroundings," but what a difference a year makes. Perhaps CFCF man Michael Silver considers objects much more intricate and busy than exercises, or maybe his skills with laptops, keyboards, and recording studios have all doubled, but from the opening "Glass," things get wonderfully heady. The diminutive stance of Exercises returns as Silver represents the object with delicate, glassy piano lines, which are Glass-y piano lines as well, as the minimalist composer is honored with filigrees that repeat and repeat as a Koyaanisqatsi-esque swell builds underneath.

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For Mike Silver, the Montreal producer who records as CFCF, inspiration comes from simple sources. First garnering attention with his balmy take on beat-driven electronics on 2009's still great Continent, Silver's pushed himself out of his comfort zone with nearly every subsequent release, and in the process reshaping what his music is capable of doing. Just as Continent was influenced by Silver's interest in film, his 2010 EP The River provided a patient, yet somewhat warmed-over alternate universe soundtrack to Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo.

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CFCFMusic For Objects EP[Paper Bag; 2013]By Ray Finlayson; August 12, 2013Purchase at: Insound (Vinyl) | Amazon (MP3 & CD) | iTunes | MOGTweetWhile the subject matter of CFCF’s (aka Michael Silver) last release (2012’s Exercises EP) was solemn and grey, taking influence from the ambient piano music of Philip Glass, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and David Borden, and washing it over with relaxing studied washes of synths, his follow up seems to take inspiration to a more refined and basic level. Music for Objects is exactly as it says on the tin; after watching a documentary by Wim Wenders about the fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto, Silver started looking differently at the objects on his desk. Music For Objects acts as companion piece to its predecessor, but despite its mundane inspiration, it’s a much livelier and enjoyable listen.

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Working in intricate, pointillist textures primarily piano and electronics, CFCF’s Michael Silver finds emotional resonance in small, contained, repeated patterns. His Music for Objects turns from the large scale landscapes of earlier EPs (The River and, most recently, Exercises) to focus on the quotidian. Inspired by a Wim Wenders documentary on the fashion designer Yoji Yamamoto, Silver looks for the ineffable in the objects that surround us, things we can hold in our hands like keys, bowls and glasses.

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Montreal electro-composer Michael Silver, AKA CFCF, wowed those in the know around the globe last year with his EP Exercises. There’s still no follow up to his 2009 debut LP, Continent, though between then and now, we’ve had a fair few smaller releases – the next one to be released is his love letter to the mundane, Music For Objects. Wielding his minimalist electronica at brace of household items, he set to work to create music that embodied the essence of inanimate objects; it’s not the most level-headed approach to crafting an EP, but it’s a novel one nonetheless.

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