The premise behind this collection is certainly an interesting one. A German tourist visits Chicago to sample the sounds of the state; thankfully the results are largely fascinating. The 18 tracks can be divided into two categories: impressive post-rock and freeform jazz. The latter genre can't help but conjure up images of The Jazz Club from the BBC comedy series 'The Fast Show' but the pieces are too messy and overlong and would take a freeform jazz purist to really appreciate them; in short it's not nice. The rest of the double CD though features contribtions from members of Tortoise, Sam Prekop and other leading lights of the post-rock scene; the melodies take a while to enter the listener's consciousness but after a few airings it is clear that the likes of Jim O'Rourke's 'Never Again', Bobby Conn's 'The Whistler', Joshua Abrams' 'End Of June' and Pullman's 'Karissa' are insouciant, enchanting masterpieces which rise above the self-indulgence the Chicago scene is often accused of.