Top Ten Rasputina Songs

Rasputina is a distinctive cello rock band with a quirky Victorian style and an oddly poetic flair. Even amidst a striking cacophony of ruffled bloomers, corsetry, strange little notions & potions & curios, and a delightfully off-kilter sense of humor, it is the band's unique breed of music that especially stands out, from the offbeat lyrics to Melora Creager's one-of-a-kind vocal delivery to the impressive array of fever dreamy sounds that are sweetly coaxed from and furiously concocted with those swoon-inducing woodwinds. Here are ten extra-specially wondrous Rasputina tunes, according to one adoring fan.

~STUMPSIDE-From Rasputina's first album, 'Thanks for the Ether', Stumpside is a tune especially striking for its peculiar poetic imagery, making me visualize twine-fastened parcels of potato peel parings clutched between pale knees beneath a petticoat.

~HOWARD HUGHES-Also from 'Thanks for the Ether', this song co-opts an historical figure with a somewhat creepy reputation and makes him even creepier. Even more than the creepfest lyrical stylings, though, what really gives power to this song is the almost fiendishly fervent cello playing, swiftly veering between dissonant and melodious and back again. This woodwind performance is certainly nothing like any kind of classical recital you've ever heard before. It whirls and swerves and spits and froths at the mouth.

~GINGERBREAD COFFIN-This tune from the album 'Cabin Fever' serves up more creepy lyrics accompanied by old-fashioned music box tinkering in addition to the band's own delectably macabre musicianship. This ditty is definitely one of the songs from Rasputina's repertoire which is most resonant for me personally, as it combines several of my favorite poetic/lyrical ingredients into one delicious mix-a peculiarly haunted tone, oddly provocative imagery, and baked goods. Another slice of amorphously shaped paranormal cake, pretty please.

~SWEET WATER KILL-Also from 'Cabin Fever', this song treats listeners to an interesting shifty rhythm that seems to alternate between plaintive and positive, perhaps in the way that water sometimes stands almost ominously still and other times happily burbles and giddily gurgles along. In a way, this song seems like a strangelittle stream of a love song.

~REMNANTS OF PERCY BASS-This song features an especially dramatic, almost theatrical arrangement and vocal delivery. Although surely an interesting composition both lyrically and sonically, I must admit that initial listens didn't really yield a clear idea of what the song's content was about. That's fine with me, because I am in favor of interesting ambiguity and moodiness that's not spelled out. However, I became even more intrigued when I read that the song is supposedly about a taxidermied pig. Art and taxidermy is another winning mix for me.

~MY ORPHANAGE-Back to the creep factor with this rather chilling number that sounds like some sort of a sinister Victorian opera take on Oliver Twist. Whether the orphanage of the song's title is literal or figurative; a menacing physical landscape or a warped and anguished mental state, the singer's scaling of the vocal range certainly sets an impressive yet foreboding scene.

~HUNTER'S KISS-This song strikes me as an anguished yet impassioned love song about being trapped under a lover's spell. You decide if it's voluntary entrapment, an unwanted yet inextricable predator/prey type relationship, a dysfunctionally warped yet strangely compelling liaison, or an obsessively titillating sadomasochistic arrangement.
~SECRET MESSAGE-The musical style and vocal delivery of this song from the album 'Frustration Plantation' are somewhat more plain and simple than many other numbers from the Rasputina repertoire, but I find this to be a very appealing song due to its lyrics about carrying a secret message that can only be shared with someone with whom one shares a very special yet inexplicable connection.

~POSSUM OF THE GROTTO-I've oft thought that the possum was a highly unusual creature and this quirky Rasputina song surely does justice to such an idiosyncratic beast. Despite the eccentricity of the song's subject matter, it's also a very fun, festive, and maybe even strangely celebratory song.

~SALINE THE SALT LAKE QUEEN-While I'm on the quirky song content kick, here's another weirdo of a song, but instead of revolving around an unusual animal, this one features a one-of-a-kind fictional female character to be reckoned with. Even if you're not into offbeat lyrics, though, give this tune a listen because the music rocks.