Rose: Perks

Australian violin artist Jon Rose's 1996 release Perks is a recorded supplement to his performance "PERKS: An Interactive Badminton Game by Jon Rose." More a sonic work of art than a collection of songs or pieces, Perks is an exploration of several subjects synthesized into a work of density and intelligence. For the PERKS performances, a badminton court is set up onstage with contact microphones and accelerometers attached to the racquets and net. These access musical information, such that a piece af music is performed based on cues and movements from a badminton game. Rose uses this two-person musical volley to describe the workings of the two hemispheres of a human brain. The brain being represented belongs to Australian composer Percy Grainger, who the Perks press release describes as "a man who created some of the most inspired and beautiful innovations in 20th century music while at the same time being capable of the most depressing racial bigotry." Throughout the recording, pieces of Grainger's work, as well as short improvisations, are interposed through the movements of the badminton players. The recording itself is a challenging listen but, with some perseverance, reveals an insightful and original look into the workings of the human mind and how personality is developed through the competing sides of the brain. ~ Mark W. B. Allender, Rovi