The Colours of Life

CFCF (Montreal-born musician Mike Silver) initially became known for his remixes of indie dance artists such as HEALTH and Crystal Castles, and eventually began releasing original material that offered an intriguing exploration of chilled-out house and Balearic disco. Since his 2009 debut full-length Continent, Silver has drifted further from the dancefloor, embracing modern classical and ambient as well as '80s soft rock and new age. Amazingly, he manages to take these influences and make them sound fresh, contemporary, and credible rather than an exercise in postmodern hipster irony. The album begins by riffing off of Phil Collins' "Hand in Hand" (a deep cut from Face Value) and travels through textures inspired by '80s new age labels such as Windham Hill and Innovative Communications (home to bands like Software and Klaus Schulze's alter ego Richard Wahnfried). It combines ticking, hissing drum machines with a distinct worldbeat influence, heavy on digital xylophones and pan flutes, easily bringing to mind Peter Gabriel and Wally Badarou, but with more of a Berlin school bent. In fact, the album is a continuously morphing 40-minute suite, similar to Manuel Göttsching's proto-techno landmark E2-E4. At one point, it almost sounds like Mark Isham's trumpet playing can be heard, but it's just an illusion created by synthesizers. But then moments later, there's gratuitous smooth jazz sax wailing. The album ends with a triumphant synth-string and piano conclusion, coming off like a Chariots of Fire victory lap. Silver originally recorded The Colours of Life in 2011 while temporarily living in Paris, and when he sent early mixes of the album to New York-based Rvng Intl., who released CFCF's excellent Popol Vuh-inspired The River EP (possibly his best work overall) in 2010, it was suggested that he work with guest vocalists and turn the project into a collaborative effort. That ended up falling through, although two tracks feature additional programming and synthesizer by Tatsuji Kimura of '80s Japanese pop band Dip in the Pool. In some ways, it's good that the album was left purely instrumental, as it has much more of a meditative quality and it feels like vocals would only distract from these soothing soundscapes. While Silver's obsession with '80s sounds at their smoothest and most synthetic might be off-putting to some, he approaches them with such sincerity that it doesn't sound condescending in the least. Most importantly, it's thoroughly enjoyable, and his sense of pacing and melodicism is impeccable. The Colours of Life is one of many fascinating albums in CFCF's brilliant catalog, and is further proof that he is the driver of the night bus.