Magic Hour is the brainchild of Bostonian
Wayne Rogers, who has released several solo albums on the Twisted Village label in the 1990's, as well as sporadically leading the garage/psychedelic band Crystallized Movements in the 1980's (which managed to release five albums on Twisted Village). In 1994, the band gained recognition when
Rogers and longtime guitar partner
Kate Biggar were joined by
Galaxie 500's rhythm section
Damon Krukowski and
Naomi Yang, on drums and bass, respectively. From 1994 to 1996,
Magic Hour released a string of excellent albums on the Twisted Village label, but the band was largely ignored in the press and certainly by the mainstream. The band's 1994-1996 period was defined by
Rogers' psychedelic guitar work, laid atop
Damon and Naomi's light-as air and always hypnotic playing that helped make
Galaxie 500's sound so beautiful. The band rarely toured, except around the New England area, and seemed content to keep releasing annual studio albums. During this period,
Rogers continued to put out solo albums while
Damon and Naomi focused on running their independent book publishing company and released two albums on their own in 1993 and 1996.
–
Kembrew McLeod, Rovi