Melora, Julia, and Agnieszka are Rasputina, an all cello band who are fascinated with nineteenth century romanticism and the use of fantasy as a means of expression. Their music is a combination of dark, heavy melodies which swoon upward and downward in a direct contrast to Melora's tiny soprano vocals. Melora, who hails from Kansas and played with Nirvana on the last leg of their final European tour, is Rasputina's primary songwriter. Julia is from Canada, Agnieszka from Poland and each share a love of Victorian history.
Melora placed an ad looking to form an all cello band and discovered upon meeting Julia and Agnieszka that they all attended the same nanny school in Manhattan. Soon after they formed Rasputina, A Ladies Cello Society was born, which is the enactment of their music and love of history into their daily lives. Whether they actually extol the true values of the domestic sphere of nineteenth century women is debatable, rather they appear to incorporate the parts that appeal, such as the hoop skirt, corsets, and long skirts and mix it with twentieth century ideals- giving themselves the freedom to choose how to lead their own lives. They can choose to perform with their skirts hiked up around their thighs while barefoot, and wearing their long hair down and twisted into dreadlocks, and feel empowered rather than scorned. And by choosing to mesh the best of both worlds, it looks as if Rasputina has created an atmosphere where they can feel at home. That is the joy of being able to examine history with hindsight; one can take what one likes and leave the rest.
Rasputina's debut Thanks for the Ether is a medley of warbling vocals and music that is as complex as it as simple - simple in the sense that the music is unpretentious and is pure in it's intention. The music is driven solely by three cellos and accompanying vocals. The complexity is found in the spectrum of emotions inveighed into each song, such as in "Transylvanian Concubine", which chronicles the historical story of the Vampire. As in "Mr. E. Leon Rauis", after stumbling upon an old photograph of a young gentleman, they took their own images of fantasy and decided what may, or may not, have become of him during his lifetime.
The expression of human emotion and the telling of exotic fantasies was what made nineteenth century art so appealing. And the idea of female empowerment was the reality of a few select women who were strong enough to take it, and the fantasy of everyone else. Rasputina, with all the fanfare their foresisters would have appreciated, takes these dreams and makes them their reality.
