The Fun Lovin' Criminals' lounge album, "Mimosa," is finally being released in North America on the band's own label, DiFontaine Records And Tapes.

FLC's manager told MTV News that fans will be able to order the record through the group's official Web site (www.funlovincriminals.com) as of May 15. The CD includes two new tunes along with a collection of b-sides, rarities, and "schmooze" versions of FLC hits, including "Bombin' The L (Circa 1956)" and "Scooby Snacks."

The record also includes covers of Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" (featuring Echo And The Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch), 10cc's "I'm Not In Love," The Climax Blues Band's "Couldn't Get It Right," Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train," and The Manhattans' "Shining Star."

The band is in a New York studio this week starting production on a new album that's expected out next year, its first with new drummer Mackie.

The Criminals will be heard sooner than that, however, on an original song called "Everything Under The Stars" recorded for the upcoming animated film "Titan A.E.," and on a compilation titled "Bite Out Of Rhyme" performing a cover of Eric B & Rakim's "Microphone Fiend."

Additionally, FLC will be releasing a home video/DVD this summer that will be anchored by a short film the band shot in Hawaii last year called "Maui Homicide 2000," a spoof on "Hawaii 5-0." The film includes an all-original, mostly instrumental soundtrack. Also included will be all eight of the group's previously released videos, some "making-of" clips, and a "life on the road" section.

And last, but not least, the band is expected to produce an album for Echo & The Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch late this year. According to FLC's manager, the Criminals' Fast and Huey met and bonded with McCulloch at the Viper Room in L.A. five years ago and have since spent some fruitful time in the studio, leading to the proposed production.

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Those Fun Lovin' Criminals are starting their own record label, and the first signing is shaping up to be Reggie Kray, one of Britain's most notorious gangsters, appropriately enough.

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The Fun Lovin' Criminals will be making festival stops in Calgary and Kahuku, Hawaii this next week before settling down for a month in neighboring Maui to work on a new studio album which, according to the group's manager, will be released sometime next year on a new label yet to be determined.

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Fun Lovin' Criminals' fun-lovin' frontman Huey was incarcerated for 24 hours on Thursday after being arrested in New York City for possession of a small amount of marijuana, according to the band's manager.

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Prince Paul, Big Daddy Kane, and Fun Lovin' Criminals were among the artists who came out over the weekend to support the Fresh Air Fund.

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Fun Lovin' Criminals has reinstated three dates on its now-defunct North American tour.

Montreal, Toronto, and New York City will be the stops on FLC's very limited itinerary, and according to a spokesperson, the group will not be restoring any other performances in the foreseeable future.

The band was to have kicked off the road trip on May 7 in Montreal (see "Fun Lovin' Criminals Nix Tour; Dangerman To Open For Blondie"). That date has now been rescheduled for June 11, and Toronto is back on for June 12.

A performance at New York City's Irving Plaza avoided the chopping block and will go ahead as previously scheduled on June 15, with opening act Dangerman still on the bill.

According to our source, the plug was pulled on the rest of the North American trip due to "logistics and exhaustion."

FLC's schedule will now only include some select festival dates overseas, including the U.K's giant Glastonbury Festival on June 25-27, T In The Park on July 10, and the Reading Festival in late August.

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The Fun Lovin' Criminals have pulled the brakes on the group's North American spring tour with Dangerman, an outing that was set to kick off in Ottawa, Ontario on May 10.

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The Fun Lovin' Criminals have spent the last few months on the road in the U.K. and Europe, drumming up support for its newest album "100% Colombian." Now the New York City soul rock trio has drawn up plans for an extended North American outing, scheduled to start on May 10.

• 5/10 ­ Ottawa, ON @ Barrymore's Music Hall
• 5/11 ­ Kitchener, ON @ Metropolis
• 5/12 ­ Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew's Hall
• 5/14 ­ Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
• 5/15 ­ Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 5/17 ­ Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall
• 5/18 ­ Minneapolis, MN @ The Quest
• 5/21 ­ Kansas City, MO @ City Market
• 5/22 ­ St. Louis, MO @ The Galaxy
• 5/24 ­ Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
• 5/25 ­ Salt Lake City, UT @ Tower Theater
• 5/28 ­ Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
• 5/29 ­ Tempe, AZ @ The Green Room
• 5/30 ­ Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
• 6/2 ­ Austin, TX @ Liberty Lunch
• 6/3 ­ Houston, TX @ Numbers
• 6/4 ­ Dallas, TX @ Trees
• 6/5 ­ New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• 6/7 ­ Birmingham, AL @ Five Points Music Hall
• 6/8 ­ Atlanta, GA @ The Cotton Club
• 6/9 ­ Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
• 6/12 ­ Atlantic Beach, NC @ Ziggy's By The Beach
• 6/15 ­ New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

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The Fun Lovin' Criminals shot a new video for "Korean Bodega" over the holiday weekend, as the song is still slated to be the first U.S. single from its just-released album, "100% Colombian." The New York trio has already released a pair of singles in Great Britain -- for "Love Unlimited" and "Big Day Out" -- as the new Criminals record was actually available in the U.K. several months prior to being issued here in the states.

It was while the band was in England promoting its 1996 record, "Come Find Yourself," that FLC found itself approached by legendary guitarist B.B. King, who lends some nimble guitar work to one of the new cuts off "Colombian," entitled "Mini-Bar Blues." MTV News recently caught up with Fast and Huey of the Fun Lovin' Criminals, and asked them about working with the vintage blues man -- and his guitar, Lucille.

"We met B.B. King a couple of times," Huey said, Huey continued, "and he went, 'You know boys, if you need Lucille and me to come down and play on anything, just let us know. So, of course, we're like, "Well, can we let you know right now? Yes. That'd be great. You know, when are you available?' So, it worked out where he was in Chicago and he couldn't get to us in New York, so we sent him a tape, he did a little thing and sent it back." [28.8 RealVideo]

In related "guest appearance" news, the Fun Lovin' Criminals themselves turn up on two songs, "Get in the Car" and "When It All Blows Over," on the new Echo and the Bunnymen record, which is expected to arrive in the import bins in March.

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The rock & soul trio known as the Fun Lovin' Criminals have just returned to store shelves with a smokin' new album, "100% Colombian," the follow-up to the group's 1996 critically-acclaimed debut, "Come Find Yourself."

The Criminals have spent most of the last two years on the road in Europe, where their distinctly New York blend of urban grooves and hardcore riffs has helped them become one of America's most popular musical imports.

But FLC's Street-smart vibe has been known to ruffle a few feathers -- as it apparently did last week to the U.K. techno-dance outfit Underworld during the Big Day Out festival down under. According to the Criminals' frontman Huey, some intergroup tensions eventually lead to a series of backstage rows between multi-instrumentalist Fast and Underworld singer Karl Hyde at stops in Melbourne on January 26 and in Sydney a few days earlier.

"My man [Fast] lit up this dude," Huey said, "he had a little duke-out. We're not a violent crew at all, but one thing led to another and there was a personal matter between Fast here and the little squirmy English dude from Underworld. Fast had to light him up. Luckily no one tried to sue him. But it was really good to actually be in a festival with the Korns, the Marilyn Mansons, and the Holes. I thought it was really great." [28.8 RealVideo]

Spokespeople for Underworld had no comment about the Aussie incidents.

As for the Fun Lovin' Criminals, the band has decided to film another version of the video for "Korean Bodega," as the group decided at the last minute that it was unhappy with the first take, which was completed earlier this month (see "Fun Lovin' Criminals Settle 'Bodega' Tab, Announce Spring Tour").

FLC plans to shoot the new video in the next few days, after which it will kick off a short promotional tour in Washington, DC, on February 8.

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