Pros: How cello-rock covers can make some songs sound more interesting.
Cons: How cello-rock covers can put off more fans of the originals.
The Bottom Line: Cello-rock isn't an easy avenue for anyone. Just ask Apocalyptica. But here it's made fun again with some well-known covers creeped out to the listener's delight.
sleestakk's Full Review: The Lost & Found 2nd Edition [EP] by Rasputina
Ok, so after seeing Rasputina @The Metro last week (fourth time in the last 9 mos) I've decided that they must be one of my favorite groups. I thought long and hard about this, I did, mulling over the various qualifications required to be considered one of my _favorite_ groups. However, I'm not going to go into vast detail about all that right now. Nope. Not gonna do it. But let's just say for the record they are one of the few groups that I continue to support with my wallet. You know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I'm often made aware that most folks have no clue as to who or what Rasputina is and this usually surprises me since the band has been around for quite a while now. I first heard and saw them live in 1996 and I recall Melora saying something about officially beginning the group shortly after Kurt Cobain killed himself (Melora Creager is, for all intents and purposes, Rasputina; she composes and records all the cello parts. Before Rasputina, she was the sitting cellist for Nirvana and you may have seen her either on tour or on Unplugged back in those halcyon days of rock reborn in the form of grunge). This was despite aspirations to form the band much earlier until the call from Kurt temporarily interrupted those plans.
Did I mention Rasputina is all cello and drums? Amped up and oft distorted cellos and big _ROCK_ drums otherwise known as 'cello rock'. And Melora's a bit bent which is another reason why I adore her so.
Enter their latest release, The Lost & Found 2nd Edition, which arrived in the racks at Rolling Stone last month just in time for this write-off. Oh right, this is part of some event Officer and JennJoy cooked up to get writers to scratch some words on new material released in the month of January. And I'm as late as ever with my lowly submission but then again when I have ever been known for punctuality. Check the other participants on your way out.
L&F2 is the second edition because the first edition was released back in 2001 through Instinct Records as a little appetizer before the full-fledged LP Cabin Fever! was released in 2002. The first was sold in limited quantities off the label site and on the group's first tour in ages. It sold out and Melora got smart and re-released it as an _official_ recording (L&F 1st Ed. was *not* official and bore no barcode). And to make it different from the first, a couple more covers were tacked on to bring the song count up to seven tracks. Oh yeah, it's all cover tunes. Hells yes.
One of the new additions kicks off the CD, "Bad Moon Rising," which I first saw them perform live last October and was hoping it would find its way to plastic because it's such a departure from the original CCR recording. Rather than the jolly frolic of Fogerty's jingly rock version, Melora's take is more in tune with what the words are really saying; Each verse sounds strained with an air of foreboding over the quiet cello until the chorus finally bursts into the loud, distortion laden, hardrocking warning it is, "So don't come 'round tonight/it's bound to take your life/there's a bad moon on the rise!" The song has never sounded so poignant.
The other new track is a sweet note for note throwout to Pat Benatar as Melora unleashes the quickly paced "Fire and Ice" that flies along with the same intensity as the original. Until slowing down after the fiery albeit brief solo with disquieting squeals at the end. This as always been a well-received, mid-set crowd pleaser since Rasputina included it in their live shows for the Cabin Fever! tours. I mean, who doesn't dig Pat Benatar?
The other tracks leftover from the first edition include Marilyn Manson's "Tourniquet" that sounds as though it was written for Melora to sing just wish she wrote more cello-friendly music to accompany his words rather than the jagged, hard chords from the original. Then there's the Nico/Velvet Underground "All Tomorrow's Parties" which doesn't really do anything sadly and "This Little Piggy" in which this traditional nursery tale is told over Melora's bluesy composition with piano added to the noisy cello work.
A couple of staples from their live show include Led Zep's "Rock and Roll" rumpus and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" which incidentally was performed the other night as a veiled tribute to Kurt Cobain. Although both songs boast completely different moods, both are approached quite evenly bringing out the intent of each quite well. The only downside of this release is that since their was already a 1st Edition floating out there in fandom, it would've been nice to see even more covers collected for this second version, even if they were ones previously recorded by the group such as Melanie's "Brand New Key" or Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me."
That said, Rasputina has done other non-recorded covers in concert particularly on their recent 6-show jaunt across the country keenly labeled the "Special Mostly Covers Recital." Last week they opened their first set with the heavy rock attack of Heart's "Barracuda" and followed it with the crowd-jumping Femmes' "Blister in the Sun." These were so good one has to wonder why they missed inclusion on L&F2.
Ah well, for 10 bucks, The Lost & Found 2nd Edition is still a worthy pick-up especially if you missed grabbing the first edition. And if you're new to the world of Rasputina, L&F2 is a good starting place that will ease the listener in gently before being consumed by the overly weird and wicked recordings found on their full length efforts. Although not for everyone, Rasputina is for someone. And that someone could be you. You never know. Out.
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