Mountains [Vinyl]

Mary Timony | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (March 7, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B00004I9UV
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,199,380 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Self-indulgence at it's best, May 13, 2003

By 

William F. Parrish "Dante_Mosier" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mountains (Audio CD)

"Mountains" is an example of self-indulgence producing great results. Oftentimes artists who make names for themselves in iconic underground bands then break out the solo projects do so because they want to explore ideas thaey weren't able to in thier bands, for the simple reason that the ideas are usually lame. But not in Mary Timony's case--this is a beguilingly insular and solipsisitic effort. You come away with a sense of furtively glancing at her journal while she's out of the room, costantly checking to see if she's comeing so you're not caught. "I Fire Myself" especially is almost uncomfortably intimate: who knows what "the mountain of fire/ and the fountain of spit" represent, but it must not be too pleasant. In her use of grandly obfuscated meanings and ornate metaphores, Mary Timony is easily on a par with Tori Amos. Musically, as well: this record finds her moving beyond the thrilling but limited Sonic Youth/Pavement guitar terrorism of Helium into a much more complex musical expressiveness--she reveals sonic textures and tricky arrangements with the offhand genious of that one kid in art class who could casually paint a breathtaking fantasy mural but would rather be throwing spit-balls at the teacher. "The Hour Glass" is a real stunner--John Cale-circa-"Venus in Furs" viola and an arrangement which comes tantalizingly close to opening up into a full-blown psychedelic jam, but Mary, shrewd as ever, knows right when to pull the plug. Great lyrics to: "we are only free at night/ but that is when we sleep" . She even somehow manages to pull off the skippable, annoying in that "I'm following my artistic muse" type of way songs without completely swamping the project--"The Bell", with it's rediculously rote arrangement and pointless coda, and "The Fox and Hound", which is wierd and creepy the first few times but gets old fast. That song's girl-and-her-Fender-Rhodes thing is much better deployed on "1542", a sublime little confection that's just one of the sonic pleasures to be had on this wonderful record (and, to be honest "The Bell" and The Hound and Fox" aren't all that bad, either!)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Medieval Mary, December 4, 2000

By 

daniel p. mattes (Phoenix(aka Hades,aka crispy)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountains (Audio CD)

Mary Timony, leader Helium, is a genius. That was established in her work with Helium (No Guitars,Pirate Prude Ep's up to The Magik City Lp) and is confirmed with her first solo album, Mountains. The albums songs are stripped bare, which allows the lyrics and vocals to take center stage. "13 Bees" from the old 'No Guitars' Ep sounds great and simple(especially with lyrics) and the whole album has a medieval feel to it that recalls both 'No Guitars' and 'The Magic City'. 'Painted Horses',with it's warped guitar and dark lyrics,and '1542' as well as 'Tiger Rising' are standout tracks(depending the mood at the moment) on an album full of dark,sad beauty from an artist that is extremely overlooked.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, May 5, 2002

By 

rackronnieroff "rackronnieroff" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountains (Audio CD)

timony's work is getting more and more like that of a tweaked, brilliant, down-on-herself fourth grader on drugs, like crayon drawings of unicorns and medieval ladies and rainbows and blood and space...

which may not mean much unless you've heard the music but this is the delicious impression i get.

every release of hers ( from helium or solo) heads more in this direction, further from the GREAT but relatively straightforward 'american jean' single (guitar, bass, vocals + drums) and more into space and this bizarre dreamland of ants and roots and rainbows which belongs only to mary. however out there, i feel like i know right where she's coming from. you might, too.