Various Artists - Notes From the Underground Vol. 1 - Milwaukee (Various Artists)

Less a greatest hits collection than a "fevered dream" one, this reliquary holdstwelve little bolts of lightning bottled right before daydreams turn into deskjobs.The true innerspace beauty of Milwaukee's overlooked oeuvre lies in the factthat the city is not a one sound town. Multiple dreamscapes call the 414 home.The empty warehouse backbeat of Operations' "Fog Museum" crests it's wavestraight to the isle of wight, while the lonely bedroom baroque of The QuietCanon's "My Love Will Shine on You (radio edit)" and the gorgeous whisperof Apollo Vermouth's "After School" prescribe the soothing medicine ofmelancholy. Combine this trio with the twin-v of ful-ly-realized melodic manna- Testa Rosa's "Alice Anything" and Elephonic's "Wonderin'"- and you can'thelp but be buoyed by this collection's remarkable second act.