''Mountains'' is the debut solo album by the American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

musician

Mary Timony Mary Bozana Timony (born October 17, 1970) is an American independent singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and violist. She has been a member of the bands Helium, Autoclave and Wild Flag, and currently fronts Ex Hex. Timony's music is o ...

, released in 2000.

Production

Timony played all of the instruments on the album, aside from the drums. ''Mountains'' was recorded in Boston and mixed in Chicago. It was Timony's intention to make a more acoustic album, after the dissolution of

Helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' thought that Timony's "unerring instincts—a well-placed guitar strum here, an off-key phrase there—make this determinedly lo-fi effort an easy climb." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called the album "a well-realized, cleverly updated example of the rock-and-runes genre." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' instructed: "Imagine a stripped-back, very simplistic musical cross between the sword'n'sorcery imagery of early Black Sabbath and the baroque, layered vocal pop of Miranda Sex Garden." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' determined that "Timony makes disturbingly beautiful music for lapsed Gentle Giant fans and anti-Lilith singer-songwriters alike." ''

The Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...

'' stated that Timony "retains the complex song structures and kooky Tolkein-esque medieval imagery but seriously narrows her sonic palette."

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of ''Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', ''Guitar World'' and ''Modern Drummer'', and for 15 ...

, of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', included the album on his 2000 top 10 list.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote that "these songs are filled with enough death, poison, fire, insanity, and demons for any prog or metal epic, but it's their insular mood that makes them so haunting, especially when compared to Helium's fiery manifestos."

Track listing

# Dungeon Dance # Poison Moon # I Fire Myself # The Bell # Painted Horses # The Hour Glass # 13 Bees # The Golden Fruit # Whisper From the Tree # 1542 # Valley of One Thousand Perfumes # Tiger Rising # An-Deluzion # The Fox and Hound # Rider on the Stormy Sea

References

{{reflist 2000 debut albums Matador Records albums