| The Magic City | |
| Type: | Studio album |
| Artist: | Helium |
| Cover: | Heliummagiccity.jpg |
| 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 |
| Prev Title: | No Guitars |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
The Magic City is the second and final studio album from American indie rock band Helium.[3] It was released in 1997 on Matador Records.[4]
The album was produced at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium studio, in North Carolina.[5] It was recorded in six weeks.[6] Its sound was influenced by psychedelic and progressive rock,[7] notably King Crimson.[8]
AllMusic called the album "a rich, colorful array of sounds ... that blends lo-fi indie-rock with '70s prog rock." 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." New York Magazine praised Timony's "loopy, pensive guitar lines, deceptively offbeat song structures, and quirky vocal style."[9]