> from 'Entertainment Weekly' (Apr 22) On "In the Grass," former Helium frontwoman Mary Timony sings majestically about both Jesus and "jamming to the Fat Boys," without a hint of irony. Her third solo album is full of these juxtapositions, which drop fantastical bits into the gloom of everyday life and saturate indie prog-rock in a hypermelodic wash. While Timony lays on the dreaminess a bit thick at times, Ex Hex's eerie beauty is vivid enough to keep you under its spell nearly all the way through. Grade: B -Steven Chen (credits: addledgirl from puffing stars) > from Rolling Stone After turning her attention to unicorns and other prog-folk filigree -- a direction begun on the final records of her former band Helium and elaborated on two solo discs -- indie-rock heroine Mary Timony has returned to rocking out. For Ex Hex, she's teamed with Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty (in the production chair) as well as drummer David Ocampo for an album of loud guitars and sometimes even louder percussion. Canty kicks up an angular, rhythmically intricate racket, and Timony matches his attack with punk aggression and alt-metal chops, often without much bass, keyboards or sonic sweetening. It's a brutal approach that tends to trample her fragile vocals and rarely flatters her winding tunes. A keyboard-dominated throwback, "In the Grass," provides a pretty respite. For one album, though, Ex Hex's raw power and complex riffage are a refreshing change. (3 stars) Barry Walters (Posted Mai 05, 2005) original link > from pitchforkmedia.com Mary Timony Ex Hex [Lookout!; 2005] Rating: 7.3 If you were into Mary Timony's art-pop band Helium, chances are you were also into Polvo, or, more specifically, the baroque cathedrals shared member Ash Bowie hewed from his guitar. If you were into Helium and Polvo, you probably loved intricately braided strands of melody and dissonance, art-school meets meat-and-potatoes punk a la the Breeders and Autoclave (Timony's first band), and tight packets of oblique imagery. And if you were into all of that, you were probably turned off when Timony went solo and started mining Tolkien for lyrics and Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute for musical inspiration. I guess if you're a Boston hipster and you want to check out the Ren Fair, solo is about the only way you're going to go. As a closet "literary fantasy" buff, I can sympathize with the impulse to reclaim the allegorical potency of works like The Thousand and One Arabian Nights from hokey sword-and-sorcery books. Writers like Neil Gaiman and filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki have been instrumental in preserving the rich metaphorical cores of mythological archetypes against the depredations of trite fantasy franchises, but a similar savior has yet to come along in music: Elves are adorable, but even an unabashed Sandman fan like myself can't stomach their cavorting in the context of a song. If you've been turned off by the ponderous whimsy of Mary Timony's solo output to date and pine for the sweetly sinister discord of Helium, you'll be pleased to learn that Ex Hex is a well-grounded return to form with decidedly terrestrial lyrics about uncommunicative men (on the plodding minor-key dirge "Silence") and the inconvenience of having drunks sleeping on your floor (on the fuzzy rock stomper "On the Floor"). This is raw and raucous rock-- pounding drums, throttled prog riffs and breathy, hypnotic invocations. When Timony dips into fantasy, it takes the form of religious dread, as on "In the Grass": "Even I know the fiery place you can go," she sings into a starry cascade of guitar. "Return to Pirates" chimes and chugs through knotty chordage; "Friend to J.C." wails like stressed metal; "Backwards/Forwards" nearly plagiarizes the laddering riff from Modest Mouse's "Shit Luck" to close the album with a snarl. Brendan Canty's stark production lays out the rattling percussion, serpentine leads and woozy, serrated chords in a lean procession that emphasizes the songs' dark, rugged beauty. Many of the riffs are righteously medieval in tone, but they rework those tripping arpeggios for a scorched-earth rock setting, without a lute, zither or lyre within earshot. -Brian Howe, April 6, 2005 original link > from Chord Magazine Mary Timony is one of those chameleon-like artists that you're never quite sure what to expect from; you just know it will be good. Now on her third solo effort, Timony has traveled back in time to her guitar years, but retained the minimalist sensibility and prog tendencies that have filtered in and out of her releases since Helium's 1997 swan song. Ex Hex is a fresh start, with Timony and new drummer Devin Ocampo (Medications) as power duo. The cloak of depression shrouding her two previous efforts has been lifted along with most of the fantastical lyrics. Overdriven chords play alongside her typically unusual guitar lines, and sometimes evoke Helium memories ("Return to Pirates," "Backwards/Forwards"). But Ex Hex is far from a return to Helium's glory days; instead, it is a showcase for one of indie rock's most overlooked guitar greats. Timony is simultaneously grounded, playful, and progressive in performance and composition, while Ocampo's energy and inventiveness behind the kit helps build and maintain momentum. Prog-style vocal harmonies, random synth accents, twinkly vibes, and the occasional bass line adorn and fill the arrangements. The production value may be lo-fi, but Timony's music most certainly is not. Intelligent garage music, anyone? -Natasha Padilla original link > from Aversion.com (4 out of 5) Mary Timony is back from La-la Land. After frustrating fans with an ever-increasing love for prog-rock flavors and fantastic, mythical themes with her last couple recordings with Helium and her first two solo efforts, Timony is back making salt-of-the-earth rock. Her best effort in nearly a decade, Ex Hex reclaims Timony from the world of midnight Fantasia screenings and 20-sided dice to one that befits her punk-rock roots. Sure, Ex Hex lacks the clear-cutting power of Autoclave and isn’t nearly as challenging as Helium’s skewed pop, but it finds a comfortable medium between the two. More importantly, the flutes, airy keyboards and other prog-rock studio extras of her solo work is nowhere in sight, which means that, among other things, you can read her latest lyrics aloud without sounding like a Sci-Fi convention-dragging virgin. Timony isn’t quite as pissed off as the seditious punk she was in her youth, but Ex Hex shows the singer/guitarist is still full of spunk. Her tinny, cutting guitar figure slices through bass sludge and a rollicking rhythm with single-minded determination on album opener “On the Floor,” a surly potshot at unconscious alcoholics. Timony keeps the power pumping for “9x3,” which channels D.C. post-hardcore guitar figures without abandoning conventional logic, and “Return to Pirates,” which lurches between shimmering guitar dissonance and thumping, rhythm guitar hits. Although she returns to the real world on Ex Hex, Timony’s still a dreamer at heart. If you peek between the cracks on this album, her fanciful side balances out her rediscovered sense of grounding. It’s never more obvious than on “In the Grass,” dominated by glistening keyboards and lyrics rife with Biblical and surrealist imagery. It’s a holdover from the otherworldly infatuations of her last, 2002’s The Golden Dove (Matador). “Moon” offers loopy guitar figures and up/down dynamics that aren’t nearly as straightforward as the rest of the songs on the album, but it’s not nearly the ethereal trip to Narnia and back we’d come to expect from Timony. Just because Timony scales back her instrumentation and breaks the spell of fantastic themes doesn’t mean Ex Hex is an easygoing album. That’s far from the truth. Although Timony’s roots show through in many places on this record, which is also tangentially directed by the arty East Coast post-hardcore scene, it’s a fresh step, and a significant one, for Timony’s career. - Matt Schild original link > from liveDaily.com CD Review: Mary Timony, "Ex Hex" (Lookout!) by Jim Harrington Published: April 20, 2005 01:30 PM Mary Timony is both blessed and cursed with a voice that strongly recalls several other sensational vocalists, including Bettie Serveert's Carol van Dyk and drama-queen Liz Phair. That's pretty good company to keep, but those other voices chatter so distractingly loud at times that it can be hard to judge the former Helium singer on her own merits. That's a shame, since "Ex Hex" is a strong album from start to finish. In fact, it might be the best thing Timony's done since Helium's 1995 full-length debut, "The Dirt of Luck." "Ex Hex" is such a powerfully musical work that it's surprising to learn that it was created by just two people. Reversing the White Stripes' gender roles, Timony handles guitar and vocals while Devin Ocampo (from The Medications) plays drums. Timony, one of the most entertaining guitarists in indie rock, absolutely steals her own show at times with her astonishingly versatile fret work. "On the Floor," which kicks off with bouncing-basketball-like percussion, absolutely drips with Jack White-style urgency. "Friend to JC" finds the six-stringer blowing a windmill of Pete Townshend-esque licks. But Timony's playing is most effective when she digs a little deeper, trading directness for mystery, such as on the alluring "Silence" and "In the Grass." original link > from dustedmagazine.com Artist: Mary Timony Album: Ex Hex Label: Lookout Review date: Apr. 6, 2005 It’s pretty incredible that Mary Timony scooped everybody on the big psych-folk revival with her magic ‘n’ special unicorn worship solo records, and latter-day Helium output, for Matador. Not incredible in the sense that she couldn’t do it, but more in the sense that she did when she did. I’ve seen Animal Collective pounding on the floor, and Devendra Barnhart braying into a microphone; that type of junk is big business today. And I remember Mary up there, strumming away with a purpose. But yeah. She’s over that now. So where to go after you turn your back on the Fairie Kingdom? You take a shower, you clean up your act, you shake off any unnecessary production and you go back to your indie rock roots. Which is just what Timony’s done with her latest, Ex Hex. Jumping ship from Matador to Lookout, she’s shed a skin of sorts, stripping down to a duo with her on guitar and mathrocky drummer Devin Ocampo (Medications, Faraquet), who knows his way around polyrhythms as well as forceful, straight-ahead drum patterns. It’s the kick in the ass Timony needed to move on; she tends to meld together a bit too well with who she’s playing with (remember how ropey she got when she was playing with Ash Bowie from Polvo?), and it’s to her benefit that Ocampo has the energy to carry his half of these songs to the finish line. But moving on sometimes means moving back, which is why Ex Hex plays with the kind of energy you might have expected of a project of hers between her early 90s stints fronting DC popsters Autoclave, her somewhat caustic, druggy-sounding days in Helium, and her axe-wielding in Mind Science of the Mind. There’s very little indirect or lilting here, as both musicians charge forward with the Spirit of 1994 (or the power of Simple Machines – cough) at their backs. Perhaps the Spirit of Radio strikes them as well, as there’s more than a little bit of stadium-strength prog riffage rifling through certain tracks that wouldn’t sound too out of place on a late ‘70s Rush album, such as the geometric tumble of the album closer “Backwards/Forwards.” Likewise, Timony channels another guitar hero, Pete Townshend, throughout the record (to particularly masterful effect on “Return to Pirates” and in the verses of “Hard Times Are Hard”), with a particularly effective rhythmic lead technique. It’s particularly satisfying to hear confident music like this, played with the fiery purpose of those who pioneered it over the last two decades. Of course, in doing so, Timony places herself ahead of the curve once again. Which isn’t too bad of a place to be in the long run. By Doug Mosurak original link > from splendidmagazine.com splendid > reviews > 5/16/2005 No one ever accused Mary Timony of stagnancy. After making a name for herself fronting the legendary Boston indie-rock band Helium, Timony disappointed many of her fans with her fanciful, stripped down solo albums, Mountains and the slightly uneven The Golden Dove. Those albums abandoned the angular rock of her heyday, opting for a more mythical, almost medieval sound; she sang of forest creatures and bizarre animal imagery. Fortunately, that's not the case on Ex Hex; this time out, Timony has teamed up with Devin Ocampo (the astounding drummer from The Medications), and the two of them have churned out a unique indie-prog masterpiece that owes as much to Hendrix as it does to Sonic Youth. Timony is one of those singers who seems to have worked her way to the top of the indie rock heap through sheer creativity and tenacity. Her vocal gifts are meager; she sings with an unmistakable urgency, but her pipes wouldn't get her past the first round of American Idol. However, like all great rock vocalists, she wins us over with style, not talent. In "On the Floor", when she sings, "I had to carry my suitcase over you / as you lay in your manger there / passed out in a pool of drool and despair," her voice sounds deep and sloppy. Still, the words are so venomous, and her delivery has so much conviction, that it packs a surprising wallop. While lyrical barbs like that one fill Ex Hex's corners, the album's real focus is more of a musical endeavor. Timony's songs, fleshed out with guitar and organ, are actually surprising forays into prog rock territory. "Backwards/Forwards"'s churning guitar line sounds like something from Hendrix's Axis Bold as Love, and with Ocampo's creative drum work, the duo ride the riff into psychedelic oblivion, resting only during the few brief verses. It's bold and unusual, but they pull it off. Two piece bands have had luck pulling off the dramatic and cinematic before (See Fiery Furnaces), but it's no less impressive when Timony and Ocampo do it here. "In the Grass" is a mellower version of the same song, with plenty of space for Timony's unmistakable voice to work. There are traces of Mountains in the piano parts and the vocal melody's European folk stylings, but true to the rest of Ex Hex, it finds its way back to a triumphant musical coda. Mary Timony is a true American gem, a unique songwriting voice who seems to have no point of reference in the current musical canon. She writes and performs these songs as if she hasn't heard anyone else's songs in the last decade, boldy forging her voice and guitar into a singular musical force that should not work, but does. It's marvelous and highly recommended. -- Philip Stone original link > from allmusic.com Review by Heather Phares Mary Timony's first two solo albums, Mountains and The Golden Dove, had a mystical, fairy-folk bent that was intriguing (and also presaged the popularity of similarly inspired acts like Faun Fables, Joanna Newsom, and White Magic) but also puzzling to fans of her work with Helium and Autoclave. After moving house, both personally (back to her old haunt, Washington, D.C.) and musically (to Lookout! Records), she returns with Ex Hex, a more straightforward but still delicate collection of songs that sound like exorcisms of past situations and relationships. Even though the album is on a label usually associated with punk and shows off Timony's impressive electric guitar skills, it's not as much of a return to rock as might be expected. To be sure, "On the Floor" — a great kiss-off to a lazy (soon to be ex-) boyfriend — and "Friend to JC" kick-start Ex Hex with a one-two rock punch, but the dark, electric piano-driven "Silence" is nearly as winding and expansive as anything that appeared on Timony's first two solo albums. Whether she surrounds her voice and melodies with guitar, bass, and drums or more exotic instruments, her approach is still distinctive (and remarkably consistent over her career): "W.O.W." and "Harmony" glide along on the hypnotic, vaguely Eastern-sounding guitar work that has become one of Timony's trademark sounds, while "In the Grass"'s drum machines and layers of acoustic and electric piano recall Magic City's mix of hard-hitting rock and ethereal keyboards. And, as always, her lyrics are formidable: lines like "Return to Pirates"' "You are the universal hate within us all" serve as reminders that it's probably not a good idea to get on Timony's bad side. More often than on some of her recent work, Ex Hex's music matches Timony's barbed words. "9x3" is a fast punchy song that could be about the mean girls in high school (or after graduation, for that matter). "Hard Times Are Hard!" and "Backwards/Forwards" are some of the most straightforward rock songs Timony has ever written, though they're far from predictable. Ex Hex can't really be called a return to form because Timony never lost it in the first place, but it's probably the most immediately appealing album in her solo career for Helium fans who missed that band's bite on her other albums. original link > from stylusmagazine.com Mary Timony Ex Hex Lookout! 2005 B Mary Timony has been away for a long time. Sure, the former leader of Helium has had some releases since her band put out their last recording in 1997. But it seemed as if Ms. Timony had gotten lost down some Dungeons & Dragons hole (nowhere near as interesting as Alice's rabbit hole) sometime around 1999. Artists should always be encouraged to branch out and redefine themselves, but sometimes those experiments go awry. For her fans, Mary Timony's two solo records were exercises in maintaining loyalty—their weirdness was annoying and, in the end, the overall effect was boredom. And it's not as if Helium themselves weren't an odd band to begin with; Timony just pushed the envelope until she dropped off the edge. Everything became metaphor, leaving no room for personal detail to connect with, and no story to lose yourself in either. Ex Hex, on the poppy-punk label Lookout!, is a return to form. Timony fills in the spaces (literally) with lengthy guitar and keyboard jams, sounding like a cross between Sonic Youth, Yes, and The Who. It's those filled spaces that seem to keep her in check and make for an intriguing record. Ex Hex is dense and claustrophobic, in a good way. Over eleven songs, Timony never lets up, spewing forth lyrically and musically. "It's people like you / With a serpent's tongue / That poison everyone / An eye for an eye, a tooth for my youth / Goodbye for a goodbye" she sings on "Hard Times are Hard!" The subject matter seems to veer between two subjects: finger-pointing and admissions of found strength. None of it sounds bitter, however. Timony sounds like a grown, somewhat odd woman who is working her way through a tough time period. Indie-rock anthems are what Mary Timony does best, from her earliest days as a working musician. Ex Hex proves her expertise in this arena. Robert Pollard may be worshipping at the altar of Pete Townsend for over a decade now, but I dare say that Timony is a severe rival for him with this latest release. But unlike Pollard, she refuses to streamline, which gives her an advantage in the realm of epic songs. Her guitar playing is excellent throughout, and always emotional. Devin O'Campo's drums and bass add just the right fills. They are slightly sloppy, where feeling wins out over absolute precision, making for a better CD. Ex Hex does have some problems, but they are minor in comparison to the thrill of hearing Timony rock out again. The sequencing is fairly terrible. What could have been a compulsive listen from first note to last instead plays out as a collection of very good songs. And Ex Hex is not the step forward that should be happening this far into Timony's recorded career (let's not forget her early work in Autoclave). But, two steps forward, one step back. Or, in this case, two steps back and one step forward. Fans should take it. Mary Timony has released a solid record to entice the deserters back to the fold, and it is one that should bring her quite a few new fans, as well. Reviewed by: Jill LaBrack Reviewed on: 2005-05-27 original link > from cokemachineglow.com Towards the end of last year, I had a discussion with one of my friends as to whether someone like Joanna Newsom made "genuine" music or not. I argued in Joanna’s favor, saying that the quality and seeming honesty of her songs precluded any such false intentions and that, after all, it was possible that she liked to dress in fairy or elven garb “just because.” But as my friend kept repeating “you know she doesn’t really believe that shit,” I had a sinking realization that, sure, it could have been an act. What does it matter if an artist’s stage persona/image is so contrived? My answer is usually "it doesn’t matter much, as long is the music is good." If your name is Robert Smith and you wanna spray your hair into a ridiculous mop on top of your head and put some white face paint on before you play me some amazing tunes, go right ahead. If your name is Joanna and you really need that fairy dress to feel comfortable up on stage, I’m not gonna try and stop you. The problem seems to come when the image doesn’t fit the music or seems somehow off. Of course, with the dime a dozen bands who try on the image of the moment, like the Bravery, it’s easy to say, “shut up dudes, weren’t you in a ska band five minutes ago?” For ex-D.C. punk-girl Mary Timony, something just didn’t fit when she seemed to abandon her roots and opt for Tolkien-inspired lyrics and garish instrumentation on her first two solo records. Now, Mountains didn’t exactly suck or anything, but it didn’t fill the sizable Helium-shaped void in my stereo, either. And while it didn’t seem like Timony was being disingenuous on her first solo records, she was wearing cat masks, singing about dungeon dances and the whole thing just felt sort of awkward. Enter Ex Hex. Featuring a far more stripped down, mandolin-less sound produced by Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, Timony focuses on writing straight-forward songs with nary a unicorn or dragon reference in sight. Her lyrics focus on relationships with men and the city, and though not her best, they just seem more natural. Timony’s guitar-work has always been one of her strong suits, so it’s nice to hear it up front on songs like the straight-up indie-rawking like the days of Sonic Youth long past “Friend to JC.” Drummer Devin Ocampo, credited with co-writing a number of the songs, expertly handles multiple rhythms and lends a full sound to Timony’s guitar and her throaty vocals, still with that breathy Kim Gordon-esque frankness that appeals to so many. The album oscillates between a stripped-down early Helium feel and more proggy songs that sound like newer Stephen Malkmus material. The proggier moments, like “Silence,” tend to get bogged down in their own stilted rhythms. But on songs like “Return to Pirates,” Timony, well, returns to her former glory with a great guitar-pop gem. “9 x 3” is as good, featuring a scathing, winding riff at the service of an indie-rocker straight out of the early '90s. It's worth noting that Timony’s dabbling in fairy-sounds presaged Newsom’s meteoric (in indie terms) rise to the top, so hey, maybe Timony was on to something. But to my ears, Newsom sounds more natural doing that sort of thing, and Timony is more at home on a record like this. Ex Hex may not be a return to Helium’s heights (go spin “Hole in the Ground” again if you have any doubts), but at least that awkward feeling is gone. Timony sounds fresh and honest again, instead of encased in the anachronistic amber of songs about dragons, fairies and dungeons. Album closer “Backwards/Forwards” may sum up the album best as the song features a chugging prog-tastic riff and lyrics that acknowledge that sometimes to move forward, you have to first move backward. Sean Ford | May 11, 2005 original link > from popmatters.com by Brandon Arnold Whether calling out the transgressions of old boyfriends, or weaving D&D-style yarns about wizards, vampires, and magic boxes, Mary Timony has never shied away from her demons. Since the end of her much-missed ex-band Helium, her solo output has focused on bent allegories and fairy tale obsessions, and so much has been made of her medieval fixations that it feels trite to even bring them up. She likes vampires and elves, okay? Who doesn't? While ruminating on her Tolkienesqueries can be fascinating, I find the other side of her writing much more compelling. Mary calls it like she sees it, and she's not afraid to call you out. Her first lyrics on Ex Hex -- "I can't stand you lying here on the floor / But then again I've asked you to move before / And you haven't" -- paint a photorealistic image of a woman fed up with your lazy ass. Mary isn't the shy, skinny Boston girl you take her for. She's tough. She's walking out, and you deserve it. It's this overarching bluntness that dominates Ex Hex, and that goes for the music as well. Just as her lyrics often point to folkloric beasts and beauties, her music has always held a distinct baroque flavor. But make no mistake: Mary Timony is a rocker, and Ex Hex leaves no doubt of that. This is helped in no small amount by the addition of drummer Devin Ocampo's aggro-stomp. His considerable drum talents and pedigree with Discord band the Medications lend Ex Hex an atmosphere that is decidedly D.C. sharp (also helped by cutting, percussive production by Fugazi drummer Brenden Canty). Though often buried on past releases, Timony's guitar riffing skills are impressive, and here they're brought to the fore. Timony's angular noodling so closely mirrors that of Ash Bowie (ex-Polvo, ex-band mate, ex-boyfriend) it's eerie, but that's not a problem. Someone's got to carry that torch, since Bowie himself seems to be hiding out in some sort of indie-rock witness protection program these days. Ex Hex has a feeling of immediacy missing from much of Timony's earlier, more languid efforts. From the staccato riff that opens "On the Floor", through the spindly guitar line that propels the album's closer, "Harmony", the duo tears through the material like it's under deadline. Save a few choice overdubs, and one lush piano/vibraphone track ("In the Grass"), this is Mary as guitar goddess, stripped to the bare necessities of Fender and Marshall. Close your eyes during "Hard Times Are Hard" and you can almost smell the musty practice space. Through all of this, Timony proves that she still knows how to deliver volcanic dynamic shifts. "Friend to JC" recalls the dissonant pop-squall of Daydream Nation-era Sonic Youth, and "Return to Pirates" is guaranteed to please the hordes hungry for a Helium reunion (or a Polvo reunion for that matter). In contrast, "Silence" wisely uses empty space to mirror lyrical content: "We speak in silence / Just like not speaking at all". This serves as a nice contrast to the garage rawk propulsion of songs like "9 x 3", which conjure the ghost of Timony's first band, Autoclave. When Timony's new formula works, it works fabulously, breathing new life into her material. Ex Hex will undoubtedly bring back a few fans that went scurrying for the hills when Timony's Mother Earth obsessions began to get the best of her. However, the unrelenting minimalism can become tiresome, and her considerable talent for adding new dimensions through multi-tracking is a little underused. It seems as if with Ex Hex she's torn down the castle of sound she'd been dwelling in for years, to hop in a grungy old van and hit the rock clubs. But the truth is, the heart of Timony's sound hasn't changed much since her first Helium releases. Her songs have always reflected a life lived by tempering an emotionally difficult, sometimes mundane reality with bursts of fantastic escapism. No matter how far you run, you can never escape yourself. Your demons will always find you, but if exorcised properly, they can yield some pretty effective results, or in Mary's case, a damn good record. — 30 June 2005 original link > from prefixmag.com Mary Timony Ex Hex label: Lookout! rating: 3.5 (out of 5) by Dan Goodin After being unceremoniously dumped by Matador, her record label of more than a decade, indie-rock pixie, prog-rock priestess and punk feminist Mary Timony got hooked up with a new band, producer and record deal. The infusion of new blood, particularly the addition of bandmate and collaborator Devin Ocampo, brings new vigor to her third solo album, Ex Hex, even as it finds her largely returning to her punk and lo-fi roots. To the relief of fans who favored Timony's work when she fronted Helium, Ex Hex largely draws off that band's earlier punk and indie sensibilities, fueled by Ocampo's powerful, thumping drum beats and forceful bass playing. The sound, as you might expect from a duo, is starker, and there's an aggression that resembles Helium's acclaimed Dirt of Luck full-play (1995) and Pirate Prude EP (1994). The tempos are among the fastest of Timony's career. "On the Floor," "Return to Pirates," "Hard Times Are Hard" and "9x3" stand out as the better examples of Timony's return to a more basic and hard-playing style. The strongest cut on the forty-six-minute album, "9x3," opens with a playful call and return between guitar and drums before launching into a blistering, punk-inspired bass line. The chorus features strong hooks and an infectious melody that adds an element of pop rock. Timony, whose work over the years increasingly dabbled with the more elaborate and symphonic elements of progressive rock, still finds time to veer into long series of meandering, mostly minor-key guitar and keyboard scales that are more classical in their approach. Even as they rock out, the songs adhere to Timony's highly structured songwriting and disciplined playing. Ex Hex also retains much of the ethereal mood found in so much of Timony's work. "In the Grass" and "Silence" are infused with the eerie, dreamy magic that came to characterize songs found on Helium's No Guitars EP (1997) and Timony's The Golden Dove (2002). Lyrically, Timony continues to showcase her blend of fantasy story-telling, deeply personal daydream thoughts and biting criticism, often in a single song. "'I can not love you more,’ said the doctor to the whore, 'I want to be in the garden of love, led by a lamb and a little white dove,'" she sings on "Return to Pirates." Besides teaming with Ocampo for Ex Hex and a summer tour, Timony sought production help from Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. With a new label and fresh band and producer, you might have expected Timony to do something altogether different. She's ditched the medieval allusions to dragons and fairies and most of the courtly, classical sound that marked so much of the later Helium material and her early solo material. But what results in many ways sounds like a rehash of her previous work. That's not necessarily a bad thing, considering the strength of her earlier work. And this time around, Timony draws from a richer palette and a fresh perspective. She may not have learned any new tricks, but Ex Hex is proof that Timony still has imagination and chops. original link > from tinymixtapes.com Ex Hex Lookout!, 2005 rating: 3/5 reviewer: tamec Indie semi-icon Mary Timony, late of Polvo and Helium, is in the midst of a solo career that incorporates elements of both of her former bands. Timony's bands have always been exuberant, guitar-heavy indie pop-rock outfits, and Ex Hex mines much the same territory. Things are kept essentially basic on Ex Hex, her debut for Lookout! after sticking with Matador for her time with Helium and two previous solo records. The first half of Ex Hex covers the range of styles attempted here, with "On the Floor" providing a suitably rockin' opener, though the central guitar riff is a bit repetitious. "Silence" is six-plus minutes of moderately-paced dissonance, but actually works better than one might think, given the fairly uniform upbeat pace of the surrounding songs. "In the Grass," meanwhile, is airy pop; though this is Mary Timony, not Belle & Sebastian, so don't expect any cooing. With her pedigree, especially with her best band, Polvo, I have to respect Timony's standing as one of the forewomen of indie rock. And I have to give props for her determination to, within a relatively narrow latitude, remain true to the shambolic indie aesthetic that so few bands in the slickly-produced fashion-core nu-indie scene have adopted. Seriously don't you ever wonder -- what did Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, the Archers of Loaf, and their brethren accomplish that hasn't been overtaken by the influence of... '80s synth rock and disco? Look what happened to Flaming Lips! But I digress. And I'm even being a little disingenuous. I like Bloc Party more than I like Ex Hex, but not because I like to dance more than I like to rock; Timony simply doesn't make the same concessions to the listener -- even at her poppiest here, this is still chunky, dissonant, and dense. And if you're counting down the hours till the first Interpol defection or drug fatality, Ex Hex might be just the thing. original link > from agouti.com 4 stars Contributor: Joel Edelman Mary Timony was always one of those singers stuck in my "recommended if you like" pile. I knew she was great, but like so many others, I just didn't have the time to find out first hand. And of course I've been missing out all these years because of my stubbornness. On Ex Hex, Timony gets a little more rock-ous than on her previous solo albums, but it doesn't sound contrived. "On the Floor" begins things with infectious guitar. It's quite grooving, kids. "Return to Pirates" is as metaphorical as everything else that Timony does, so the song is not really about pirates, or even Pittsburgh. But it has one of the best rhyming lines that I have heard this year: I cannot love you more/said the doctor to the whore/I want to be in the garden of love, led by a lamb and a little white dove. The music in "Return to Pirates" is also filled with hooks, so much so, in fact, that I really can't consider this album dolphin-safe. Man, I love this song. The keyboards on "In the Grass" are etherially haunting. And more great lyrics too: I was on the bus/trying to get off/jamming to The Fat Boys/when I was lost. Don't be scared by Timony's return to rock. It's still good stuff. She can still sing, and the writing is as sardonic as ever. You just can't help but want to give her a hug or a high-five. Your choice. original link > from Entertainment Weekly While Timony lays on the dreaminess a bit thick at times, Ex Hex's eerie beauty is vivid enough to keep you under its spell nearly all the way through. [22 Apr 2005, p.64] > from Spin magazine The ballads are still as pretty as her fan base of shy piano students and unicorns. [May 2005, p.110] > from the crutch.net Mary Timony Ex Hex (Lookout!) by: Jonah Flicker Mary Timony’s first solo album since 2002’s The Golden Dove finds her finally moving away from the prog-rock meanderings of her last few releases. These albums explored fairy-tale themes and twisting guitar patterns, which was an effective and interesting excursion in her musical development, but Ex Hex’s return to a base of power-pop roots and power-chord riffing shows she’s in her best form since Helium’s 1995 release, The Dirt of Luck. The instrumentation on this record consists of Timony on guitar and Devin O’ Campo on drums. But this two-piece lineup belies the lush and full sound that they create, no doubt thanks in part to Brandon Canty (Fugazi) and Don Zientara’s production work at D.C.’s Inner Ear Studio. There is some bass and keyboards present in the mix, most notably on the swirling “In the Grass”, but overall, the brunt of the music rests on the six-string and skins. “On the Floor” opens the record, an excellent way to draw the listener in. A chunky power chord progression begins the song, as Timony sings, “I can’t stand you / Lying here on the floor / But then again / I’ve asked you to move before / And you haven’t.” Midway though the track, she plays a double-note min-guitar solo and layers a nice harmony over her vocals. While Ex Hex remains a solid album throughout, this opener is definitely the highlight and displays Timony’s catchiest and most jovially aggressive side. “Silence” harkens back a bit to her work over the past few years, with its psychedelic extended outro of keys and cartwheeling guitar line. “Return to Pirates” is Timony at perhaps her most rocking. After a bending, arpeggiated verse, the chorus kicks in without abandon, Timony singing, “I want to be in the garden of love / Led by a lamb and a little white dove.” Fey lyrics for such a rocker, but the contrast is effective. “9x3” begins with a minor key “Peter Gunn”-style chorus, drums rapidly pounding like a hummingbird’s wings, before switching to another incredibly catchy chorus, reminiscent of the best melodies of her work with Helium. I recently saw Mary Timony play live, opening for Sleater-Kinney in Los Angeles. As good as this record is, the songs didn’t translate that well in a live setting, losing some of their punch and infectiousness – perhaps due in part to the large size of the venue she was performing in. Nevertheless, Ex Hex is a great return to what is best about her music – the sharp vocal melodies, pleasurably dissonant guitar riffs, and intelligent rocking. original link > from SF Weekly Mary Timony Ex Hex By Mark Keresman Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Those put off by the progressive-rock modes of singer Mary Timony's previous disc, The Golden Dove, can rest easy: Ex Hex (her first for East Bay label Lookout!) is a return to the thorny, stripped-down, slightly arty punk rock of her days in Helium. Featuring two musicians -- Timony on guitars and keys, Devin O'Campo on bass and percussion -- Hex makes a sparse, tense, tightly wound clamor (somewhat reminiscent of the Fall), and boasts a barely contained anguish at its core. Timony's plaintive, slightly flat, innocence-lost voice belies the cautious optimism of her lyrics ("Let's go for a ride/ I'm a fighter, not a bride," from "W.O.W."; "Call a truce a deuce, this life is rough/ Be strong, hang tough," from "Friend to J.C."). Her smoldering, stark, and surly guitar tone sounds like a coiled king cobra ready to strike. Her songs are either midtempo or dolefully paced (the latter a bit overplayed), while the gloomy vibe is alleviated somewhat by the shimmering timbres of the keyboards and the occasional vibraphone. Though not exactly fun, Ex Hex displays an edgy, cathartic charm. original link > from Everybody Record's Newsletter Mary Timony “Ex Hex”….Mary Timony’s latest effort, Ex Hex, is a thrilling musical escapade with beautiful moments of melody, harmony and rhythm. Guitar goddess Timony, formerly of indie rock favorite Helium, has teamed up with Devin Ocampo to form this power duo. original link > from Columbus Alive. any additional review, let me know! « |
