The Magic City (Helium album)

The Magic City
Studio album by Helium
Released	September 9, 1997
Recorded	1997
Genre	Indie rock, alternative rock, post-punk, noise pop
Length	51:40
Label	Matador Records [1]
Producer	Mitch Easter [2] Helium
Helium chronology
No Guitars (1997) The Magic City (1997)

The Magic City is the second and final studio album from American indie rock band Helium. ^{[2] [3]} It was released in 1997 on Matador Records. ^{[4] [5]}

Production

The album was produced at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium studio, in North Carolina. ^[6] It was recorded in six weeks. ^[7] Its sound was influenced by psychedelic and progressive rock, ^[8] notably King Crimson. ^[9]

Critical reception

AllMusic called the album "a rich, colorful array of sounds ... that blends lo-fi indie-rock with '70s prog rock." ^[10] Magnet wrote: "The album is a Pet Sounds chamber-pop-meets-progressive-rock indie masterpiece, created long before any lo-fi-loving cretin would ever admit to loving Yes’ Close To The Edge, Genesis’ Nursery Cryme or watching Keith Emerson throw daggers into his eight-foot-high synthesizer." ^[6] New York Magazine praised Timony's "loopy, pensive guitar lines, deceptively offbeat song structures, and quirky vocal style." ^[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Vibrations"	2:46
2.	"Leon's Space Song"	2:59
3.	"Ocean of Wine"	4:04
4.	"Aging Astronauts"	3:08
5.	"Medieval People"	4:08
6.	"Lady of the Fire"	2:19
7.	"Lullaby of the Moths"	3:09
8.	"Revolution of Hearts, Pt. 1 & 2"	8:01
9.	"Ancient Cryme"	3:55
10.	"Cosmic Rays"	3:58
11.	"Devil's Tear"	2:46
12.	"Clementine"	2:31
13.	"Blue Rain Soda"	1:50
14.	"Walk Away"	5:59

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Chicago Tribune	[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A− [13]
Pitchfork Media	8.5/10 [14]
Spin	8/10 [15]

Personnel

• Mary Timony – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, Chamberlin
• Mitch Easter – guitar, backing vocals, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, slide guitar, percussion, production, recording
• Ash Bowie – bass, accordion, percussion, additional keyboards; drums (tracks 1, 4, 5, 10), all instruments in "Medieval People"
• Shawn King Devlin – drums (tracks 2, 3, 6-9, 11-14)
• Andrew Emmett – violin (track 7)
• Ken Wilmot – trumpet (track 11)
• Chris Stamey – editing, Pro-Tools ^[16]

References

1. "The Magic City". store.matadorrecords.com.
2. "Helium | Biography & History". AllMusic.
3. "Helium: The Dirt Of Luck/The Magic City + No Guitars reissues/Ends With And Review". pastemagazine.com. May 24, 2017.
4. "Helium: The Dirt of Luck, The Magic City, Ends With And Album Review". www.austinchronicle.com.
5. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 227.
6. "MAGNET Classics: The Making Of Helium's "The Magic City"". July 31, 2017.
7. Jones, Joyce (November 21, 1997). "HELIUM: ABOVE THE CROWD" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
8. "Mary Timony feels pumped about Helium revival". June 9, 2017.
9. Lindsay, Cam (May 5, 2017). "Mary Timony Airs Out Helium's Mystical '90s Classics". CLRVYNT. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
10. "The Magic City - Helium | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
11. "They're a Gas". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. December 1, 1997 – via Google Books.
12. McKeough, Kevin (October 31, 1997). "HeliumThe Magic City (Matador) (star) (star)Helium leader..." chicagotribune.com.
13. "The Magic City". EW.com.
14. "Helium: Ends With And / The Dirt of Luck / The Magic City / No Guitars". Pitchfork. May 24, 2017.
15. "Reviews". SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. November 16, 1997 – via Google Books.
16. https://www.discogs.com/release/462364-Helium-The-Magic-City