Day 0823 - Come Find Yourself

Fun Loving Criminals "Come Find Yourself" (1996)

The band had formed in 1993.  They were working at a club and when the scheduled act failed to show they would step in and play the gig.  During one of these shows they caught the notice of the right people and got signed.

Their album "Come Find Yourself" has a bit of a club vibe in it, but in the main it feels to me like someone cruising around the city (presumably the FLC's hometown of New York).   Opening track "Fun Loving Criminal" feels like a daytime cruise about.   The next track "Passive Aggressive" has an evening, loungey vibe with some laidback raps which suddenly erupts into horn-backed heavy rock riffs with a yell-along chorus.   The album settles back into its silky groove for the next couple of tracks, singles "the Grave and the Constant" and "Scooby Snacks" before busting out the rock again for "Bombin' the L".

The cover of Louis Armstrong track "We have all the time in the world" is a nice touch, but not a scratch on the original.   Love the almost Cream-esque vibe of the riff from "Crime and Punishment"

The album mixes rap, rock, soul, and loungey vibes in a way that works more often than it doesn't.

Day 0717 - Ingénue

K.D. Lang "Ingénue" (1992) - got it

For Lang's second solo album, she largely left her country sound behind in favour of more of a mix of cabaret, pop, alt-country, tango and a few other flavours.   There are times that the style could almost seem musically a bit 'middle-of-the-road', but it is saved by Lang's amazing voice, her painful honesty, and her brilliant songwriting abilities, such as on album opener "Save me"

This is a relatively short write-up, but suffice it to say, I am very much in love with this album, and will be keeping an eye out for a copy (as you can see above, since writing this, I found one).

I can hear the possible influence from this on artists I enjoy such as Amanda Palmer and Pink Martini.