Skelly Riot, a trio from Portland, Oregon is comprised of some of the better known reggae musicians in town. The reggae and dub influence is all over this 5 song EP, yet they integrate that sound with so many other genres that the end result is a refreshing blend of melody, rhythm, texture, and emotion. The upbeat and philosophical message of reggae is found in these compositions, most notably on “La Sangre Dulce”, where singer Chris Williams, through use of a talk box asks a series of inward-looking questions (“Where will we go when there is nowhere else to run?

OMG OMG OMG!
The leader of the rainbow colored unicorn army is back! And while the unicorns are no longer visible on the album, I can tell that Valo (aka: Vishnudata) has hidden them throughout the tracks on his new album -simply titled 'Vishnudata'.

A new album from Blue Planet Corporation.
A new double-album from Blue Planet Corporation.
A new freshly remastered double-album from Blue Planet Corporation.
A new freshly remastered double-album featuring classics and unreleased material from Blue Planet Corporation.

Honestly, I am a bit short on words to describe and praise this monumental release.

Some days are simply those days. They are hard to describe. The world isn't bleak. The sun is shining. You aren't really tired. You weren't recently dumped or fired; hell, you may have even found something you have long since lost. But for some reason, something is off.

And now . . . we are in August.
I paid rent yesterday. Bloody rent. Rent is like a ghost; always lingering about when you wish it wasn't. You want to sleep. You want to go about your day. You want a simple answer to a straightforward question. The ghost is lurking and giving riddles. Bloody ghosts.

You know, Troll Scientists are really good. Their whole "thing" is massively awesome. I dig it. A lot. Their first album, Useless Science, off of Space Boogie Productions was a simply awesome. I wrote at length about it here. Troll Scientists' new album takes that same awesome and does something even more awesome with it. Seriously. It is, the Last Train to Awesome Town.

Right now, I should be reading up on Vygotsky and his theories involving the Zone of Proximal Development. I should be writing about how this ZPD relates to how children learn and different ways that we can implement these theories into our schools so that we can achieve greater success and become a stronger and better city/state/nation/world/species.

But you know what?
I've been listening to this new Rip Van Hippy album for 2 weeks straight and it is time for me to talk about it.

Bassist, singer, songwriter, who is from Portland. Amazing talent! She went to PSU at age 16.