Timony, Mary: Mountains (20th anniversary edition) LP

Mary Timony's debut solo album, "Mountains", is the latest entry in Matador Records' Revisionist History series. The album comes back to us as a gold foil-embossed gatefold double album and includes the previously unreleased original takes of "Return to Pirates," "Poison Moon," and "Killed by the Telephone," which were delivered along with the original master tapes 20 years ago, but were omitted from the final album. The record, remastered by Bob Weston, is completed by a newly recorded orchestral version of "Valley of One Thousand Perfumes" produced by composer Joe Wong (Russian Doll, Midnight Gospel) and mixed by Dave Fridmann. At the turn of the century, Timony (Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Hammered Hulls) was already a celebrated presence in American underground music - a fixture of D.C. and Boston rock 'n' roll via her work in Autoclave and Helium respectively. "Mountains" found Timony dialing into territory that was barer and more confessional than her work in Helium. Stark arrangements were augmented with newly ornate instrumentation - piano, vibraphone, and viola - and the lyrics were tinted with slyly occult imagery.