Ice Capped at Both Ends, by the unfortunately named Diamond Watch Wrists, is one of three albums Warp Renaissance man Guillermo Scott Herren released almost simultaneously. Along with Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (as Prefuse 73) and La Llama (from his Savath + Savalas moniker), each album was released within a month of one another. But while they were likely intended as a statement proclaiming the granddaddy of glitch-hop to still be at the top of his game, they have sadly ended up lending more fuel to the naysaying fire.
The albums were problematic from the beginning: La Llama was a dry execution of his "world music"-influenced persona, while Ampexian regurgitated the P73 formula in smaller but more numerous burps. Both were met with very little in the way of positive press, and Ice Capped at Both Ends -- this full-length collaboration with Hella's Zach Hill -- has barely registered a blip. Yet Diamond Watch Wrists is probably the most daring project he has attempted in years. He sings throughout the entire record over his trademarked skittering, mouse-mauling intensity, one that's deftly matched by drummer Hill. It sounds the least like a Herren record, and that is a good thing. He is trying something new.
Hill is a bizarre self-taught drummer, famous for his breathtakingly nimble feet and the fantastically complex time signatures he lays down on every project (and he gets around a lot). Zach could probably cover Metallica's "Battery" and Don Caballero's "New Laws" at the same time if you dared him to. He is able to keep up so well with every sliced and diced piece of fractured white noise and acoustic sample that you'd think he had Intel inside. You'd be wrong -- this guy's all natural. His skill is definitely impressive, and Herren's desire to collaborate with him is especially notable.
The problem is that, in execution, Ice Capped at Both Ends is as uninteresting as its cover, barely able to make deep, lasting impressions. This is most obvious with Herren's unremarkable vocal performance, which is breathy and exaggerated, layered so deep upon itself that it ends up obscuring most of the lyrics. Then again, the whole aesthetic isn't exactly motivating listeners to try to decipher the words. Ignoring the thematic concepts, the tone of his vocals and the way they were produced is not fitting of the record. They act as a bland blanket, smothering his own carefully programmed glitches and all of Zach's intricate beats and acrobatic fills to the point of suffocation.
That said, if you have the patience to let the vocals slide, the instrumental base for Ice Capped at Both Ends is one of the most unique and intelligent albums Herren has released yet, almost as breathtaking as the first Prefuse 73 releases were when they were released. That is a big "almost," though. The vocals are the bane of this album's existence. I would really like to see what Diamond Watch Wrists could be without that wobbly lyrical wheelchair.
1. My Last Time In This Place
2. Polite Passage
3. One Second Early Late
4. Onward Push Me Out
5. Diamond Falling Off My Grill
6. Dot Org Green Consumer
7. Start Wrong
8. Simple Love Notes (5 Years Late)
9. Speculative Forensic Investigation
10. Epidemic Episodes Of Epidemics
11. Taped Up Swagger (High School Version)
12. Ending0
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