Cloud Management & Vivien Goldman – Whoops Wrong Planet

What at first seems like an unusual encounter between generations, scenes and geographical worlds unfolds as surprisingly coherent and natural. On Whoops Wrong Planet, Cloud Management, a project situated between experimental dub and electronic club music, meet Vivien Goldman, the New York author, musician and defining post-punk voice. And the connection works from the start.

The three original tracks – the B-side consists entirely of remixes of these three – thrive on an open, improvised approach, while remaining precise throughout. Dub provides the release’s basic tone, expanded by experimental elements and Goldman’s highly unusual vocal style. The rhythmic structures remain deliberately minimal and clear, but are continually widened by spacey synth surfaces, small sound details and subtle shifts. The result is a pleasantly pulsing tension that runs through the entire record.

»Quick Cover Up« opens with Goldman’s slightly displaced, almost askew vocals, which sit unusually over the beat yet never lose their groove. And it is precisely this friction that makes the track distinctive. »Judge Judge« moves further towards reggae, feeling warmer, groovier and more melodic, with reverb-soaked vocals and an immediately catching rhythm. The title track »Whoops Wrong Planet« finally opens the sound further into the spherical and ambient, lighter and more suspended, without leaving the dub core behind. Overall, this is a reduced and highly refined release that consistently places atmosphere, detail and flow above effects – and works all the better for it.