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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]

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)

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]

Critical reception

AllMusic called the album "a rich, colorful array of sounds ... that blends lo-fi indie-rock with '70s prog rock."[9] 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."[10]

Track listing

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Chicago Tribune	[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[12]
Pitchfork Media	8.5/10[13]
Spin	8/10[14]

Personnel

• Mary Timony - Guitar, Vocals, Chamberlin, Keyboards
• Ash Bowie - Bass, Drums
• Shawn King Devlin - Drums
• Mitch Easter - Guitar, Mandolin, Percussion, Pedal Steel, Vocals (background), Producer, Engineer, Slide Guitar, Mixing
• Andrew Emmett - Violin
• Ken Wilmot - Trumpet
• Chris Stamey - Editing, Pro-Tools

References

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