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Ralph Sophisticated Boom Boom (Bongo Beat)
Shipping News Save Everything (Quarterstick) Roped together to do soundtrack duty for an American National Public Radio program, post-rock anchors Jeff Mueller (June of 44), Jason Noble (Rachels, ex-Rodan) and Kyle Crabtree leave all imitators to drown in their wake. Trolling remote depths with their unmistakably bass-blasted broodings ("Books on Trains," "The Photoelectric Effect"), Save Everything charts the undiscovered darkness while underscoring the enigmatic nature of the big blue sea. 8/10 (Lorrie Edmonds) Jane Siberry A Day in the Life: NYC 1997 (Sheeba)
The second release on her own Sheeba label allows Siberry to indulge her quixotic creativity. Less music album and more art piece/promo disc, Day includes snippets of current projects (songs with Joe Jackson, for k.d. lang and a Laura Nyro tribute) amid taxi rides, answering machine messages and our heroine traipsing through New York. For hardcore G.I. Janes and direct-order only (1-888-3-SHEEBA). 6/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
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Ralph Alphonso has quite a résumé. Graphic designer, zine publisher, poet, spoken-wordist and nice guy. Notice how he's helpfully divided this disc into four mood-oriented segments. Dig the jazzy beatnik revivalism, the garage rave-ups, the piano-based parlour games and finally a red-eyed, Velvets-inflected closing stretch. Always inviting, never pretentious. Cool, baby. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) At the Beatnik Folk Pop Explosion, Hotel 2 Tango (173A Van-Horne), Oct. 3 & 4, 7:30 , $4