Having spent the first half of the nineties wondering what had become of the members of Galaxie 500, I think I discovered the involvement of Damon and Naomi from that band in Magic Hour around the same time I first came across Dean Wareham's band, Luna. I've no idea how I got my hands on a copy of the CD since I don't think it was well distributed (if released at all) in the UK, and Amazon (if it existed at all) was only selling books.
Unlike Luna's Penthouse, however, my excitement quickly cooled when I heard the album. I remember recording it on to cassette and listening to it in the car on a drive up to Preston with M (or was that His Name is Alive, or perhaps it was both; or it could have been two separate trips, who knows?). But I doubt I've listened to the album at all in the intervening 15 years, and I may never listen again. It's not that it's terrible; it's just that the ethos of the ensemble doesn't bring out the strengths or the feel of Damon's drums or (especially) Naomi's bass. And, actually, the guitar playing is bit daft at times.
It was to be another year or more before I discovered that Damon and Naomi had another parallel recording career as… Damon and Naomi. Meanwhile Magic Hour have more or less dropped out of digital memory completely: no Wikipedia page, no inclusion on any of the digital streaming servies, and the main reference to them on Andy's Galaxie 500 site is in an out of date [his words!] FAQ.
 MusicBrainz entry for this albumWikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Some metadata about this album at Last.fm |
Oh... you've made me feel very remiss. I'm inclined to agree although I still listen to the first Magic Hour album occasionally... (last.fm suggests VERY occasionally!)
Posted by: Grange85 | 28 January 2011 at 11:15 AM