Day 0905 - Red Dirt Girl

Emmylou Harris "Red Dirt Girl" (2000)

The third entry here featuring Emmylou (her 1975 album "Pieces of the Sky" was day 336 and the "Trio" album with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt was day 588).   Emmylou had gone from releasing an album every year or two in the 1980s to a much slower/lower output in the 90s.   Her 1995 album "Wrecking Ball" with regular U2 producer Daniel Lanois added a little extra atmosphere to her sound and was critically lauded.  

It took her a solid 4-5 years to follow it up with this album, which was different from her usual releases in that she wrote or co-wrote nearly every song.   It's not like she'd been slacking in the meantime though, with live albums and collaborations (including a second 'Trio' album) in the meantime.

The music is nice enough.  Kind of a folky alt-country vibe.   "Tragedy" has atmospheric looprf beats not dissimilar to "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks.   "My Baby Needs a Shephard" has lovely waves of vocal harmonies rising up on its folky arrangements.   

I don't really have too much more to say about this one.   Perfectly listenable, but not one I'll rush to revisit.

Day 0810 - Better Living Through Chemistry

Fatboy Slim "Better Living Through Chemistry" (1996)

Norman Cook was the bass player for an indie rock band called the Housemartins.  Following the breakup of that band he formed the electronic group Beats International, Cook already had a few years of clubbing and DJing under his belt by then.

Cook then adopted the moniker Fatboy Slim to begin his solo career proper.    

This first Fatboy Slim album features tracks already recorded and released by Cook at different times throughout his career, but, despite this and the mix and match of sounds, it's a fairly cohesive collection of fun and funky big-beat tracks.   It already has that Fatboy Slim feeling of mixing a little bit of old with a bit of new to create something fun enough to dance to, but universal enough it its appeal that non-dance fans can get in on it too.   

Pretty sure I recognised "Going out of my head" from different tv shows and/or commercials.   I'm guessing that that commercialism may have earned Cook some criticism.   Accusations of 'selling out' and all that.  Who cares though, when the music is good.