Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was a surrealist western for wild women everywhere. What better choice, then, for its movie soundtrack than K.D. Lang? She and collaborator Ben Mink dream up lush instrumentals varying from twang-guitar atmospherics to the bittersweet carnival feeling of Fellini's film scores. Better still, they deliver vocal tracks at least as nifty as those on Lang's 1987 breakthrough, Angel With a Lariat, from easy funk ("Just Keep Moving") to a ballad that's as strong as any she has yet recorded ("Hush Sweet Lover"). This doesn't qualify as a full chapter in Lang's impressive book of songs, but it's more than enough to tide fans over until her next studio affair. (RS 677)

PAUL EVANS