Mary Timony reissuing solo debut, covered John & Yoko with Joe Wong

Gina Alexander

Ex Hex and Helium frontwoman Mary Timony's 2000 album Mountains is getting the 20th anniversary treatment as part of Matador's ongoing Revisionist History series. The album's out January 15 and in addition to the original record, which has been remastered from the original tapes by Shellac's Bob Weston, it contains a bonus disc featuring original takes of “Return to Pirates,” “Poison Moon,” and “Killed by the Telephone,” as well as a newly recorded orchestral version of "Valley of One Thousand Perfumes" produced by composer Joe Wong and mixed by Flaming Lips/MGMT collaborator Dave Fridmann. You can listen to the new version of "Valley of One Thousand Perfumes" below.

"This record was made at a raw time in my life and the process of recording it with the brilliant Christina Files was a transformative, and life affirming journey," Mary wrote on Instagram. "It’s the one record I’ve put out that I’ve gotten the most positive and negative feedback about. Over the years people seem to have either loved it or hated it. Not sure what that means, I guess it stirs things up in people, and I’m good with that. Here’s the craziest part."

"I thought for the last 20 years that I had lost the original master tape that included 4 or 5 recordings that didn’t make it on the record," Mary continues. "I had searched for it, and eventually considered the songs gone. Well, turns out the tape showed up last year deep on a dusty storage shelf, and the “lost” recordings were found. So happy to say they are on this new version of the record, at the end — and are my absolute favorite of the whole bunch. Life is mysterious!"

You can pre-order the Revisionist History edition of Mountains now, and check out the tracklist below.

Mary also plays on and co-produced Joe Wong's new album, Nite Creatures, which is out now. Joe and Mary also recently teamed up to cover John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of classic album Double Fantasy. “The song has always felt haunting and profound to me, and is an under-appreciated song in the Ono/Lennon oeuvre,” says Joe. “Although the song was recorded during the week of Lennon’s 80th birthday [last month], the track continues to inhabit my dreams, and that's a good thing. Not enough people talk about what an incredible singer Yoko is, and interpreting her song was a formidable challenge. It was a thrill to explore Andy Newmark's subtly polyrhythmic drum part and Tony Levin's bass genius, from the time when it was restricted to a mere four strings.” You can listen to that below.

Mountains 20th Anniversary Edition tracklist:
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
Return to Pirates (Kingston St. Session)
Poison Moon (Kingston St. Session)
Killed by the Telephone (Kingston St. Session)
Valley of One Thousand Perfumes (Orchestral Version)