Indie Rock
by Beth Martin How her garden has grown : Mary Timony, December 17th 2003, live at TT the Bears You can tell that Mary Timony is old school by the fact that she actually watches her opening bands. On the blustery Wednesday night of her last Boston appearance, Mary perched against the sound booth of TTs, all ears for quality opening bands Roh Delicate and The Arrangement. A seasoned performer, it's obvious that Timony has respect for her fellow musicians and is not--while her image may hint at it--jaded to today's independent music scene. Beginning her musical career in the early 90s heading up Autoclave with Christina Billotte (Quix*o*tic), and solidifying it with her critically acclaimed band Helium, Timony has been touring solo now since 2000 with a varying array of accompanists. Constantly reinventing her stage show, touring with any combination of cello, violin, drum, bass and of course her own guitar and organ, Mary Timony has finally arrived at a level of musical sophistication and maturity not met by many solo artists. In the early days of her solo project, it would not have been surprising to see Timony crying over malfunctioning sound equipment at her live shows, or beginning songs several times until she was satisfied, often to the confusion of the expectant audience. It was questionable whether or not her own emotion in the present was interfering with the latent emotion of her songs. Each performance was starkly different sound-wise, despite the fact that they were comprised of the same basic material: songs from 'Mountains', her 2000 release on Matador Records. Her ability to alter the sound of a handful of songs was impressive, but a bit too erratic for a musician of her metal. By 2002, when she released 'The Golden Dove' (Matador), fans were itching for new material, and it became clear that Timony's long production period was well worth it. 'The Golden Dove' is a dark fantasy, but one that a strange little girl might have, stippled with cats, horses, birds and forests. Its distinct tone and dying alpenglow lend themselves to a more consistent stage show for Timony, providing her with more concrete material. Timony's new material is stronger and much less malleable than her older songs, and she delivers it to the audience more confident of the messages that she brings. Instead of being the one waify skeleton in the closet that would spill all on the discord of human emotion, Timony now breathes fire to burn that emotion down, emerging from the ashes of each performance purer and stronger. When Timony took the stage at TTs this last time around, she and usual accompanist Jeff Goddard (Karate) delivered a moving and engaging set. Mostly drawing from material off of 'The Golden Dove', this old soul trapped in a little girl's body washed the room in her thick psychedelic folk fuzz style. Her sound was noisy but gentle chaos, tamed only by keyboard-made drum beats. There is a certain darkness that has come with her confidence. The fragile vulnerability present in the sopranos of her pre-Golden Dove sets has replaced itself with a redder, more droning and throaty voice. Her wide eyes and pigtails are still there, along with the girlish clothes, but something has distinctly changed. Her music is richer, the chords deeper, the lyrics more felt. When she covered "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, she owned it, treating it as her own. The only light moment of the evening was when Timony covered BJ Snowden's 'In Canada', singing happily "In Canada, they treat you like a queen, in Canada, they never will be mean...", a stark contrast from the rest of her set. Though she spent most of the time on guitar, Timony did take to the keyboard for a few songs, but even these were heavier, and sung with more conviction. Though most of her songs still lyrically retain her former mystical themes, Timony has pulled herself out of the story books and into a gritty reality that she thrusts on us with no apologies. She has grown up musically, and this transformation colors her entire performance. Her current tour is over, but another is rumored to begin in February 2004. For more info (and to buy fabulous Mary Timony handmade underwear!!) visit www.marytimony.com. TT the Bears is located at 10 Brookline Street in Central Square, Cambridge. from SubterraBoston.com |
