Jarrod Fowler

Information as Material is proud to present Jarrod Fowler’s ‘Percussion’ As Percussion
CD - 22mins - 32pg booklet - 2008 - Product code: 5-060163-970010
“Situated halfway between squall of The Velvet Underground’s Sister Ray and the crash of the Twin Towers collapsing, Jarrod Fowler’s 'Percussion' As Percussion upon first listening is nothing short of ear-shattering; just when you thought the genre of noise had been pushed as far as it could, Fowler turns the volume up to 11. However, a closer listen reveals a subtle tonal symphony of dense textures and colors, weaving fragments of shattered guitar chords, spoken word, and pop-song choruses into an audio equivalent of a Pollock painting. The end result is nothing short of a body shock, yet oddly one is left with the feeling of serenity and contemplation: this is an indisputably beautiful piece of music. Taking his cue from Eastern philosophy, where music acts to liberate both body and mind, Jarrod Fowler might be the La Monte Young of the iPod generation.”
— Kenneth Goldsmith , Founding Editor of UbuWeb & Senior Editor of PennSound
‘Percussion’ As Percussion is a sonic reading of John Mowitt’s book Percussion: Drumming, Beating, Striking , and an attempt to grasp how rhythm makes sense in music and society. Fowler charts the encounter between theory and practice implied in Mowitt’s book to produce a critique of the ontological delimitation of percussive theory and it’s social consequences for ‘drumming’. This CD, co-produced with Nick Thurston , features a foreword by musician James ‘JLIAT’ Whitehead , an introductory essay by poet Bruce Andrews , an appearance by vocalist Liz Tonne , and an afterword with Mowitt himself.
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Jarrod Fowler is the author of Translation As Rhythm , from Errant Bodies Press.
CD - 77mins - 12pg booklet - 2006
Jarrod Fowler’s Translation As Rhythm is an investigation of reference, reflexivity, and stasis through the reactivation of the contents, methodologies, and structures of past compositions. With attention to this CD’s external partaker-specific meaning-making processes, internal associations, and fundamental presentation, Fowler advances a considered historical position of post-conceptual and post-minimal thought, practice and status. The CD specifically references Ludwig Wittgenstein, Erik Satie, John Cage, Joseph Kosuth, James “JLIAT” Whitehead and Fowler himself. Translation As Rhythm’s contents include: percussive sounds conveying periodic and aperiodic structures, speech synthesizers, numerical lists, noise drone, field recordings and a supplementary booklet.
"Jarrod has covered every inch of the CD packaging with manifestations of the concept, translation as rhythm, at the same time keeping it aesthetically pleasing...Jarrod’s work is very straightforward but also very confusing if one expects instant revelation without effort...The question that Translation As Rhythm raises, whether the organization of qualitative transformations is a rhythmic act or sets off a series of rhythmic occurrences, is an interesting one and in truth cannot fully be addressed by language."
- James Edwards , Blogger
"Of all the Cds I've heard this year, Jarrod Fowler's Translation As Rhythm is the one that has raised so many questions it almost seemed impossible to review...Translation As Rhythm demonstrates that there really are no rules to making sound commodities...Translation As Rhythm's working methods are beyond the pieces themselves and become dispersed into the world beyond by patient listening and thinking."
- Marc McLaren, Furthernoise.org
"Interesting? Hell yes! Difficult to understand and get into? Hell yes! I just had to check out his site ( www.jarrodfowler.com ) and learn more. Did I? Hell no! So, what have we here? We have serious art, packed in a normal CD case, presented to the public as music. Is it? You tell me!"
- Roel Meelkop, Vital Weekly
"This CD like many other listenings like it goes beyond simple criticism and apart from the performative judgment every other aesthetical consideration becomes useless and above all subjective."
- Andrea Ferraris, Chain D.L.K.
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