From The Vegetable Kingdom EP
The five tracks on The Vegetable Kingdom EP were recorded at the same time as the tracks that would go on In the New Old-Fashioned Way. Two of them would appear on the full-length, and three would only be on the EP. When INOFW was released in Japan, “Sucker” was attached to the end of the record, and as much as I love that song, I found that it upset the perfect balance and cohesion on what is considered the band’s masterpiece. To add anything else after the haunting, instrumental close of “Downscope, the Boat Captain” could only hurt the original track listing.
So that leaves the other two songs on the EP, “Stick in the Mud” and “Sitting Beside Myself,” which are the band’s biggest forays into “prog rock.” Of these two, “Stick in the Mud” is my lesser favorite, one of my least favorite in the Fluid Ounces canon actually. I call it “half a good song” since I like the intro and the verses, which have very nice melodies and piano parts, I but have always felt that the pre-chorus and chorus, especially the shouting of, “No more!” is one of the few moments when the song almost falls flat.
The video presented here is another from October 10, 1997, and the performance was dedicated to Nashville jazz diva Annie Sellick, who puts on an awesome show herself, and who was dating drummer Sam Baker around that time (not Tom Sellick, as the band reports in the video).
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4 comments:
i love this track, personally, and i think that the "no more!" part is the song's apex. it sounds so pained and real and one of my favorite things seth has done with his voice (along with the catchy little vocal improvisations toward the end of "tricky fingers," and the screamed "OH YEAH!" on "sick," which i consider to be the best "oh yeah" in the history of music). "stick" is definitely a change of pace for seth, and it's one that i welcome...probably the kind of music that would most likely get him an audience in today's indie market, anyhow.
Finally, some disagreement and a chance to actually discuss something on this blog!
I think there are a few really good moments in this song that are kind of broken up by parts that are just a bit too laborious for my tastes.
And I gave up estimating what today's market would like a long time ago.
eh, i don't make a big deal out of it too much. don't think seth particularly cares anymore, either.
i was always a big fan of this song mostly because it has a few distinct parts to it. and Peach, at work the other night a friend mentioned that this song was too "prog rock." then again what is prog rock? king crimson?
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