Recorded between October 2008 and November 2009, Recess is a lyrical reflection on the state of the world economy and the “reset” taking place before our eyes and ears. Inspired by Rouse’s work with Merce Cunningham and iPods (Rouse completed a score for Cunningham, International Cloud Atlas, that incorporated iPods set to shuffle so that each audience member had a unique version of the score) Rouse has collected field recordings and then orchestrated those sounds with multiple voices and instruments. The field recordings reflect every imaginable sound, from a couples’ quarrel in a NYC park to cicadas in his native Missouri. Recordings of random conversations are vocally doubled and harmonized to enhance and heighten their meaning. While most people use mobile music players to “tune out” their environment, Recess takes the mobile device to a truly collaborative level. The experience of listening to Recess on an mp3 player or iPod while walking though a city environment is a new kind of mobile listening experience. WARNING: Extreme caution should be used while listening to this music in a public environment or while driving.