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The Shapes We Make

by The Mary Timony Band

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1.
Sharp shooter don't shoot me down I'm on my way to get home again No ammunition Nor no hound could find me when I'm lost in the sound H.B. with the wounded knee When you talk, do you talk to me? I want to fly through all your trees I want to float on the back of a bee T. Nugent - What you gonna do? White tails gunna hunt you down Do unto you as they've been done
2.
I had some fun with the wildest of friends They took me to the park and they threw me away in the fens I wondered all night my hand held like a gun I wondered 'til I found the light from the city of fun And this 'don't know mind' I give to this pilgrimage We go marching by twos and our horses run loose And we can't go back That's a natural fact I see their silver faces following us in the sky The towns people gathered around the square to see the tightrope walker fight the bear I am the bear with the dullest of claws made to fight this life on a rope of meaningless laws And this don't know mind I give to life's pilgrimage We go marching by twos and our horses run loose and we can't go back that's a natural fact I see their silver faces following us in the sky
3.
Pause/Off 06:42
My reaction to your faction? Go back to school and learn your fractions Get your laws off my body Mister Paws off Supreme court misters Don't mess around with me and my sisters I sleep and when I dream I dream of pink clouds
4.
Summers gone Tho' not at all Summer's fawn's stuck against a wall Think you're cool? Well good for you You're winter's fool Think it's wise to show that range of motion while some despise any real devotion? Fly over the ocean Will we go on when this summer is gone? Will you be my friend when this summer ends? Jump back, move on over We were rolling on in the four leaf clover Remember the day you were my best friend, well I know it's gunna come back again So just lie in the tall grass and watch the clouds change their shape Legends advance while the savages dance Leaving the hour, this our greatest power
5.
Each Day 04:14
Each day I pray that you won't go away I won't get up, I won't get out bed I'll stay all day, and all tomorrow There are no parties There is no communion between people when they are sleeping But when we sleep we dream of the same thing Do you believe us? They don't believe us The ending of The ending of today is today And then tomorrow Don't wake them up, to fill an empty cup Just let them sleep, in sleep they're dreaming that all we are All we are is the dust of stars and a million molecules of things we'll never know
6.
You're flying high on curiosity I can tell you just can't let it be Let it be The fire is in your unsettled mind Holding anxious thoughts for all mankind All mankind If the universe exists only in your mind, What will happen when it expands beyond all time? Blast off! Explosion
7.
Pink Clouds 05:20
The moon is on as we know it Don't expose it Radiation Vibrations Interstellar clouds Don't talk so loud Radiation Vibrations Intersteller clouds You act too proud I orbit you Your orbit me And nature courts infinity You forge the forest through the door I hike across the kitchen floor
8.
Window 04:48
I sit outside your window even though I know that you cannot see me I can see you, watching TV in the afternoon I can't help it if I believe in your universal truth and beauty Like the bumble bee Like the tree Try to see if you can find me I'll be hiding right here behind me Put your hands over my eyes Running through the garden of our lives
9.
Rockman 06:20
See the rock man in the woods? He's a hippyman on the cutting edge Wearing flowers in his beard He sings the songs of a psychedelic seer All of your fashions will fade, like the dawning and ending of days
10.
New Song 05:41

about

The Shapes We Make, the Mary Timony Band’s debut on Olympia’s Kill Rock Stars, represents the latest stage in the evolution of one of the most important voices in underground music. Flowing from the mystic prog laced veins that have informed her art for the past decade, The Shapes We Make builds upon the stark rebellious austerity of 2005’s Ex Hex and imbues it with warmth and formidable urgency. Equal parts clairvoyance and virtuosity, Mary Timony and the musicians that she surrounds herself with paint in broad strokes a vivid landscape of colorful musical shapes.

Timony’s guitar remains at the forefront and she plays with a confidence and flair reminiscent of the guitar work in her former band Helium. On songs such as “Rockman” and “The New Song”, lush instrumentation and the addition of Chad Molter’s powerful bass playing, have freed Mary of the constraints of a duo, allowing room for her guitar to breathe and drummer Devin Ocampo’s polyrhythmic flair to reach percussive apogee. She conjures epic balladry in the airy, music box like charm of “Windows”, which highlights her unique piano voicing and Ocampo’s precise and syncopated drum work. Mary’s signature vocal stylings and lyrics are present throughout and remain esoteric and charged with rich imagery drawn from a vocabulary steeped in symbolism.

Basic tracks for the The Shapes We Make were recorded by Jay Robbins (Jawbox, Dismemberment Plan) at his Baltimore studio, Magpie Cage, in July of 2006 while additional tracking and overdubs were recorded and produced by Ocampo in the attic studio of Timony’s Washington, DC home. Her home studio provided the freedom and sanctuary that allowed Mary to focus on fully realizing her vision and art. Much more than a gifted crafter of melody, Timony is a talented multi instrumentalist, recording among other things, intricately layered keyboards, banjos, analog synths, viola, the melotron and a vintage Casio PT1. Keep an eye out for the upcoming video for the single “Sharpshooter” created by the awe inspiring art collective, Paper Rad ( HYPERLINK "http://www.paperrad.org" www.paperrad.org).

Mary Timony’s musical foray began when she attended Washington, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she studied guitar, upright bass and viola. In 1990 she went on to play guitar in the all-girl Dischord band Autoclave, which culminated with a 10” self-titled record release in 1991. Timony graduated from Boston University with a degree in English literature and in 1992 stepped-up to front the Boston-based indie trio, Helium. The group, characterized by dynamic guitar shifts amidst a wall of distortion and Timony’s seraphic vocals, issued its first EP Pirate Prude on Matador records in 1994, which was followed-up by The Dirt of Luck LP and Superball+ EP in 1995. It was No Guitars and The Magic City (1997) however, that marked Timony’s footsteps into the prog-rock arena and first exhibited her attraction to fanciful imagery.

In 2000 Timony released her debut solo album Mountains and in 2002 The Golden Dove followed--both Matador releases further developing her nonpareil song craft and all things rock and prog. 2005’s Ex Hex, on Lookout! Records proved a return to form as Timony’s guitar once again took presidency over the keyboards featured on for previous solo efforts and forest imagery moved into the aural backdrop. Timony returned to D.C. and recruited Ocampo for his deft drumming and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty for his production talent prior to recording—these distinctions resulted in an overall post-rock aesthetic and a more raw sound.

The Shapes We Make is an amalgamation of Timony’s musical history—listen closely and you can hear Autoclave guitar licks on “Curious Minds”, and “Window” features Timony’s voice in the high-register, Pirate Prude-style. The prog-rock influence is there but the rougher sound of early Helium comes through on the powerful opener “Sharpshooter” proving that Mary Timony is still moving forward and finding new ways to use all she has learned to make great records.

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released May 8, 2007

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