I must add my voice to the glowing recommendations in the latest DMG newsletters regarding the new Tin Hat Trio CD, _The Rodeo Eroded_. Imagine cowboy lament being caressed out of strings and accordion in a fin-de-siècle Viennese cafe. The odd, angular track (Schoenberg must have dropped in for a visit and hogged the scene), and Willie Nelson singing a sweet old standard (his loveliest surprise since turning up on the Kinky Friedman tribute album). For fans of Masada String projects, Dirty Three, Dave Douglas´ Charms of the Night Sky and many, many more. I should also like to say a few nice things about an obscure compilation CD constructed as a tribute to the Muscle Shoals sound by producer Edan Cohen. _Burlap Palace_ (Soundgun) contains cover tunes of "obvious" ("Take A Letter, Maria", "Chain of Fools", "I´m Your Puppet") and highly un-obvious material (Wham!´s "Careless Whispers" [?], "Hey Jude") and perfectly-right-at-home tunes (Dylan´s "Slow Train") by mostly unknown indie entities named Jeannie Brooks and the Blueskeepers, Devin Greenwood, Beth Case and Her Texas Love, or Nixon´s Head. I myself picked it up because it featured a favourite maverick of mine, Songs:Ohia, but it is a real find all around. Includes liner notes by Jerry Wexler. Can be checked out here <www.soundgun.com>. Stephen -- Stephen Fruitman Dept of Historical Studies Umea University SE-901 87 Umea Sweden