Plant43: "The Silver Finger"

Yet another winner here from AI Records, who, for my money, deserve to win the Most Rewarding Independent Imprint Award for Label Made Only of Vowels. Emile Facey and his Plant43 act joined the roster back in 2006, soon going on to his own place in history with his much-collected Grey Sky Cracks EP. Some might attribute Facey’s abilities to his genes—his great-grandfather was a stalwart of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and one of Strauss’ favourite clarinet players, after all—but others would agree he’s his own loose cannon, particularly his ex-clarinet grandfather, who’d probably spring back in fascinated terror from his descendant’s brew of mutilated Detroit techno. Having donated his talents to last year’s When I Was Ten compilation and transferred temporarily to Semantica, Facey is now given another platform of his own, this time completely devoid of guests following his split with the Third Man two years ago. Perhaps the label’s hoping for a little Grey Sky fever to combat the slump in music sales; perhaps the label’s just keen to accommodate one of the most underrated producers since Kraftwerk.

If Facey cites the Germans as the great interveners in his destiny then he’s still in awe of them on “Silver Finger,” whose analogue sequencing mirrors that of Tour de France (1984) when it changed young Emile’s life many moons ago (he was all set to master a clarinet of his own until that fateful trip to the record shop). If the track’s title sounds like a blue Roald Dahl story then its composition follows suit, opening with a pair of rabid electrons streaking through the main keyboard riff. The beat isn’t revealed until almost a minute in, where it pounces to life with both feet: part trance, part 2-step. The acid sci-fi atmosphere it generates smacks of vintage Eat Static, and Facey lets his stash of near-invisible hi-hats cascade like film noir rainfall. In summary, you get just enough pouting neon to seduce you but sufficient complexity to make you loop it; if that doesn’t combat slumping music sales (or at least get people entering burning+decay into Rapidshare), I don’t know what will.