Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

042: Helium - The Magic City (1997)

“Every song is its own little story. I’m sure it confused everyone when it first came out; that it was even uncool. Even Matador admitted that it was a record that no one would get at the time—which they didn’t—but totally would in the future.”

—Mary Timony

Often criminally overlooked among the ’90s indie-rock canon, Helium’s The Magic City is one of the most colorful and unpredictable albums to come out of Matador Records’ reign as kings of the genre. On their second and final album, Mary Timony and crew cast aside the fuzzy, lo-fi guitars for bright, lush arrangements that explore influences as diverse as medieval folk, progressive rock, and video game music. Climb aboard your mighty unicorn and follow Dan, Amanda, and Rich into the cosmos as we travel through this musically rich landscape of aging astronauts, dragons, and Chamberlins. 

Miscellany

  • In 2017, Matador Records did the band a real solid by actually putting their albums back in print. The Magic City received a dandy vinyl reissue that includes the No Guitars EP which was recorded and released around the time of this album. 

  • As part of the reissue campaign, Mary Timony did a run of tour dates as “Mary Timony Plays Helium” in which she revisited her old band’s catalog for the first time since the breakup. Sadly, she came nowhere close to the southeast, cruelly shutting Dan out of any chance to see these shows.

  • You can find the medieval-themed Alternative Press photo shoot we mentioned by scrolling down on this photo archive from Mary Timony’s website.

  • As we mentioned, we have discussed Mary Timony before on this podcast, along with a host of other excellent indie rockers.

  • We mentioned several lengthy prog rock pieces without also mentioning the artist, because we’re newbie inclusive on Discord & Rhyme. “Supper’s Ready” is from the 1972 Genesis album Foxtrot and “Echoes” is from Pink Floyd’s 1971 album Meddle, which we just talked about in great detail about a month ago. Finally, “Karn Evil 9” is from Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery, and has apparently just been optioned as a sci-fi movie

  • If you’re looking for good fantasy/sci-fi novels, Rich and Amanda are here to help. Just hit us up

  • And if you like music about outer space, have we got the album for you!

  • Just in case you suspect the intro misrepresents our behind-the-scenes dynamic, Amanda literally had to stop Rich from adding another Sonic the Hedgehog clip in post-production. 

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Dan Watkins (host)

  • Rich Bunnell (moderator)

  • Amanda Rodgers 

The Magic City tracklist 

  1. Vibrations

  2. Leon’s Space Song

  3. Ocean of Wine

  4. Aging Astronauts

  5. Medieval People

  6. Lady of the Fire

  7. Lullaby of the Moths

  8. Revolution of Hearts, Pt. 1 & 2

  9. Ancient Cryme

  10. Cosmic Rays

  11. Devil’s Tear

  12. Clementine

  13. Blue Rain Soda

  14. Walk Away 

Other clips used 

Helium/Mary Timony:

  • Helium - Superball

  • Helium - Pat’s Trick

  • Mary Timony - The Bell

  • Wild Flag - Electric Band

  • Ex Hex - Good Times 

Others:

  • Mark Seibert & Ken Allen - King’s Quest V Main Theme

  • Sega Sound Team - Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

  • The Cars - Magic

  • Genesis - Down and Out

  • Gentle Giant - Talybont

  • The B-52’s - Planet Claire

  • Polvo - Fractured (Like Children)

  • Def Leppard - Animal

  • The Moody Blues - Gypsy

  • Autoclave - Paper Boy

  • Genesis - Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

  • Van Halen - Eruption

  • King Crimson - Epitaph

  • The Mothers of Invention - Aybe Sea

  • Snail Mail - Pristine

Songs we mentioned but didn’t clip 

Helium/Mary Timony:

  • Helium - Riddle of the Chamberlin

  • Helium - 13 Bees

  • The Mary Timony Band - Rockman

Others:

  • Guided by Voices - Yours to Keep

  • The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

  • 10cc - I’m Not in Love

  • Genesis - Supper’s Ready

  • The Beatles - Something

  • The Beatles - I Am the Walrus

  • Pink Floyd - Echoes

  • The 6ths - Pillow Fight

  • Shawn Mullins - Lullaby

  • The 6ths - All Dressed Up in Dreams

  • Smash Mouth - Every Word Means No

  • Yes - The Gates of Delirium

  • Emerson, Lake & Palmer - The Three Fates

  • Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9

  • The B-52’s - Cosmic Thing

  • Gary Young - Plantman

  • The Yardbirds - Heart Full of Soul

  • Percy Montrose - Oh My Darling, Clementine

  • Donovan - Season of the Witch

Band/album 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

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Helium - Revolution of Hearts, Pt. 1 & 2 (this episode only)

You can buy or stream The Magic City and other albums by Helium and Mary Timony at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon [affiliate link]. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio for his production skills. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

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