Irving Place Records has partnered with Label 51 Recordings to create a compilation album featuring Milwaukee indie rock bands that is exclusive to the East Side store.
“Notes from the Underground Vol. 1: Milwaukee” marks the first in a series of city compilations for Denver-based Label 51 Recordings.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The first two songs from the album – “Stuck Again” by Diet Lite and Immortal Girlfriend’s “Hourglass” – are out now digitally. The remainder of the album will be available in digital format on Dec. 6.
The album, which was remastered by Jim Hill (Rain Parade, Wall of VooDoo), will also be available only at Irving Place Records on green vinyl and compact disc beginning Dec. 13. Albums and CDs can be pre-ordered on its website.
Irving Place Records is owned by Terry Hackbarth and fellow musician Don Kurth, who reopened the East Side staple Bullseye Records with a new name on Record Store Day in April.
“We were throwing some ideas around about some potential compilations and what would be cool for Milwaukee and the Milwaukee music scene that would maybe tie in with the store,” said Hackbarth, who worked at Bullseye Records for 12 years before taking over the shop. “The album is a mixture of some up-and-coming bands and some older, more established ones that have paved the way for the younger bands.”
Hackbarth said a connection was made with Label 15 Recordings through research conducted by Kip Gasparick, who handles social media for Irving Place Records.
After starting with an extensive playlist, a dozen bands made the album’s final cut.
“We just whittled it down to the songs we liked and the bands who seemed appreciative of the attention,” Hackbarth said. “It’s cool. The album shows the diversity of Milwaukee, as far as indie rock goes.”
Hackbarth is hoping that the album will boost the visibility of the local music scene.
“Milwaukee doesn’t get the attention that some of the cities on the coasts do,” he said. “We have to fight for every little bit of attention we get.”
The album’s liner notes proclaim that Milwaukee “punches well above its middle-western weight class.”
“You don’t need the Greek Freak or Harley-Davidson to tell you that, though. You just need a chorus of Milwaukee’s finest flame-touched storytellers, like this underground collection’s cast, to make a strong case,” the notes state.
The album is less a greatest hits collection and more a compilation of “fevered dreams” that features “twelve little bolts of lightning bottled right before daydreams turn into desk jobs,” the notes read.
Here’s the track listing:
Side A: “Record Store” – Trolley; “Stuck Again,” – Diet Lite; “I Don’t Drink Much (About That),” Certain Stars; “Fog Museum” – Operations; “My Love Will Shine on You (Radio Edit)” – The Quiet Canon; and “After School” – Apollo Vermouth.
Side B: “Alice Anything” – Testa Rosa; “Wonderin’” – Elephonic; “Hourglass” – Immortal Girlfriend; “Laguna” – Laurel Sulfate & Her Ladies of Leisure; “House For Two” – Nick Maas; “Brady Street” – Dead Horses.
