Rasputina

Oh Perilous World

(Filthy Bonnet)

Record Review by Janelle Finamore

Melora Creager, lead singer and writer of Rasputina, may also be the next famous anchorwoman for NBC. Her latest album, Oh Perilous World, is an embodiment of media propaganda and current events.  While overly verbose, it’s pure genius at the same time.  In “Choose Me For Your Champion,” she writes a version of a Bin Laden speech and sings in a powerful voice with drums punctuating her political statements.  Similar to their past five albums, Oh Perilous World, includes a cello-driven chamber Goth soundscape. The use of a timpani drum sound occurs in several tracks as well as poetic interludes of speech.  The lyrics are like scenes in a play or little stories.  For instance, “Incident in a Medical Clinic” is comparable to a mini-play as Creager explains her trip to the doctor’s office and all of the dialogue involved.  This is one of the songs where she acts out some of the lyrics and then breaks into singing similar to recitative before an aria.

Another perspective of Rasputina’s sixth album release is as an actual commentary on perilous or interesting events of the past and today. “1816/The year Without a Summer” reflects antiquity through Creager’s lyrics. She writes, “In 1816 was the beginning of an era of unpredictable weather/June 1816, a sudden snowstorm blankets all the countryside/So Mary Shelley had to stay inside and she wrote Frankenstein/Oh, 1816 was the year without a summer”.  She implies that Shelley’s writing is influenced by past weather events, an unusual topic for a song.

The members of Rasputina come from a strong classically trained background, which plays a role in making the album as strange and interesting as it is. In “Choose Me For Your Champion,” a small choir interlude occurs with almost a sea shanty type of sound in the middle of the song. The poetic word play such as “liquidate your fears” is also integral in making this song come alive.  “Draconian Crackdown” has a strong classic rock influence as far as the melody and production, which adds a change of atmosphere. “Child Soldier Rebellion” follows this song and it includes marching drums, which draws a parallel to the title of the song. “A Relinue of Moons/The Infidel is Me”, consists of a vocal and cello duet followed by heavy timpani drums accompanying vocals. The repetitive cello riff throughout the song is comparable to an ostinato. Again, we see a short story here, with themes of delusions, mysterious injections, and betrayal.

Rasputina’s stories, news reports, plays, songs, news articles, or poems (or whatever you choose to call them) are an unprecedented way of expressing what is going on in the world’s history. On record and in concert (where they perform while wearing Victorian costumes), Rasputina presents information in a much more interesting way than the typical journalist.