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Tonic (11​/​20​/​2004)

by Tim Barnes & Greg Davis

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1.

about

Let me set the stage…The day after George W. Bush was elected president for a 2nd term, I was on my way to Los Angeles to meet up for the first time with Ariel Pink (and his band, Gary War & Sore Eros) & Signer (from New Zealand) for a month long US tour across the country. My album Somnia had just been released by Kranky. For my live sets, I wanted to highlight the process I used on that album by performing live real time processing of a single instrument each night, completely improvised. My sets ended up generally being quite raucous & noisy, partly as an outlet for my frustration and anger about this shitty president somehow getting reelected but also because I was playing abstract electronic music opening for rock acts in more rock kind of clubs. It was an interesting tour to say the least. Anyways, as the tour kept grinding on across the country, I wanted one of my last sets of the tour (and one of our biggest shows) to be special. So I called up Tim Barnes and invited him to improvise with me at Tonic in New York. I cant really remember how Tim and I initially got in contact or met (maybe via Jeph Jerman?), this may have been the first time, but I knew of his work with his label Quakebasket and also as a drummer / improviser of the generation of musicians just before me, he was linked to Tower Recordings, Jim O’Rourke and the Chicago scene and the NYC improvised music world as well. Tonic was always a special place for me, every single show I ever played there was excellent and there were always more people than i expected and the energy was right and people were receptive to the music. This show at the end of our tour was no different, the place was packed, the majority of folks were there to see Ariel Pink’s first NYC show (he was also uniting with his song hero R. Stevie Moore) and to see what all the hype was about. He had been getting hyped up by the Animal Collective on their Paw Tracks label which was a sub label of Carpark Records (which explains my connection). Tim had brought some cymbals and miscellaneous percussion and I had set up a table full of natural objects and materials, percussion along with my computer. We opened the show by improvising with amplified acoustic natural objects (obviously in debt to Jeph Jerman and John Cage), rustling leaves, crunching pinecones and clinking rocks, etc, then we moved into the 2nd half of the set where Tim start scraping and bowing cymbals, playing bells & crotales all being processed by my computer in realtime which is what you hear here. Tim has always been kind, gracious and open and I’ll always remember this set we got to play together. I was shocked and saddened to hear that Tim is now dealing with the effects & symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. He is seeking alternative treatments and therapies and is supported by his awesome wife Erica and his family. Follow Tim’s progress here: www.caringbridge.org/visit/timjbarnes
Tim is one of the best dudes and a shining light in the experimental / improvised music world and I felt this was one way I could help by sharing some music that we made together on that magical night in NYC. We love you Tim!

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released May 7, 2021

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Greg Davis Burlington, Vermont

Greg Davis is an internationally recognized electronic musician / composer who has been releasing music and playing shows since 2001.
Davis has released albums on labels such as Important, Kranky, Ekhein, Room40, Install, Home Normal, Digitalis, NNA, Greyfade, Carpark Records, as well on his own Autumn Records. He lives in Burlington VT and owns and operates Autumn Records store in Winooski VT.
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