The Magic City (CD - 1997)

Additional personnel: Mitch Easter (guitar, pedal steel, slide guitar, mandolin, percussion, background vocals); Andrew Emmett (violin); Ken Wilmot (trumpet).

Personnel: Mitch Easter (guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, percussion, background vocals); Andrew Emmett (violin); Shawn, Viceroy (drums).

Audio Mixer: Mitch Easter.

Recording information: Fidelitorium (1997).

Editor: Chris Stamey.

The No Guitars EP suggested that Helium was expanding their sound past the wonderful, angular indie rock of The Dirt of Luck, and The Magic City confirms that suspicions. A rich, colorful array of sounds, The Magic City blends lo-fi indie-rock with '70s prog rock. Mary Timony is a sharp songwriter, and she balances her instrumental excesses with remarkable introspective lyrics. Surprisingly, the sitars, keyboards, and harpsichords are not indulgences -- they're integral to the sound of the record, making The Magic City sound alternately fantastical and frightening. It's an impressive leap forward, confirming Helium's status as one of the '90s' best indie-rock bands. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

While Helium's full-length debut THE DIRT OF LUCK wandered around the deeper crevices and netherworlds of the human soul, its second album THE MAGIC CITY finds Mary Timony's trio exploring an external, mythical world. Wearing its J.R.R. Tolkien influence on its sleeve, THE MAGIC CITY revels in songs of the medieval world; lullabies, romance and dragons and other fanciful, mythical beasts are all food for Helium's bizarre, quasi-Renaissance twist on dissonant guitar-driven indie rock.

For the most part on THE MAGIC CITY, Timony's vocals float over songs that meander playfully through dramatically different movements--a particularly stunning example of this being the hypnotic, symphonic eight-minute "The Revolution of Hearts." "Leon's Space Song" whirls around the maypole, setting raging, insistent yet traditional violins against ultra-modern lyrics and a timeless melody. While Timony has an enticing and unique voice, the most spellbinding track of all, the organ driven instrumental "Medieval People," abandons vocals entirely for a dervish-like intensity. minimize