Percussionist Tim Barnes has played with Jim O’Rourke, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Silver Jews, Tony Conrad, John Zorn, Faust, Tower Recordings, Alan Licht and many others in improvised & experimental music.

Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2021, Tim’s new collabs with Ken (Bundy) Brown (Tortoise, Pullman) feature Joshua Abrams, David Grubbs, Oren Ambarchi, David Daniell, Darin Gray, Glenn Kotche, Tara Jane O’Neil, Jim O’Rourke, Ken Vandermark and Tim’s stalwart rhythmic zeal.

Tim Barnes is a storied drummer, engineer and producer whose CV encompasses collaborations with a serious who’s-who of late 20th and early 21st century music. Most well known as one of the two drummers (alongside Glenn Kotche) on Jim O’Rourke’s seminal late 90s and early 2000s recordings, Tim has recorded, performed and collaborated Tony Conrad, Faust, Alan Licht, PG Six, Silver Jews, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, The Tower Recordings, Ken Vandermark, Wilco, John Zorn and countless other artists working at the forward edge of improvised and experimental music. For many years he was the proprietor of the boutique Quakebasket label, which documented much of this music, as well as reissuing seminal works by Angus MacLise, the original drummer for the Velvet Underground. Now, the Quakebasket imprint has been revived to issue music Tim has recorded over the last several years with collaborators from throughout his music career.

In 2021, Tim was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 54, and he and his family went public with this immediately. The response from Tim’s network of friends and musical peers was overwhelming, but the lingering shutdown meant only remote and long-distance interactions were possible. Beginning in late 2021, a large body of recordings coordinated and assembled by Tim’s longtime friend Ken (Bundy) Brown, with whom Tim had worked in the past as a member of the group Pullman, early pioneers of the new Americana movement in the indie scene of the late 90s.

Lost Words features the playing of Joshua Abrams, Oren Ambarchi, Ken Brown, David Daneill, Darin Gray, David Grubbs, Glenn Kotche, Tara Jane O’Neil, Jim O’Rourke, Ken Vandermark and Britt Walford. Alongside its companion album, Noumena, Lost Words represents the culmination of years of work and demonstrates Tim’s infectious energy and depth as a percussionist across a broad sweep of styles.

A1. Tim Barnes With Darin Gray , Glenn Kotche , Rob Mazurek And Jim O'Rourke - Surroundings
A2. Tim Barnes With David Daniell - Warming Up
A3. Tim Barnes With Darin Gray , Glenn Kotche And Jim O'Rourke - At The Threshold
A4. Tim Barnes With Oren Ambarchi - Putting Socks On Centipedes
A5. Tim Barnes With John Dieterich, Rob Lundberg And Matt Mehlan - California Quarry South
B1. Tim Barnes With Darin Gray , Glenn Kotche And Jim O'Rourke - And A Cloud Passes Overhead...
B2. Tim Barnes With Joshua Abrams And David Daniell - Just A Suggestion
B3. Tim Barnes With David Grubbs , Tara Jane O'Neil And Ken Vandermark - Never Touching The Ground