(FORTUNE Magazine) – Almost Famous Soundtrack DreamWorks Cameron Crowe's autobiographical flick about his years as a teen rock reporter in the '70s trots out a Bic-flicking mix of earphone-friendly numbers by the Who, Yes, and David Bowie. Anyone who's seen the film will be happy to know that Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" made the cut too.

Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl Nonesuch In the wake of her 1995 alt-country classic Wrecking Ball, Harris once again tap-dances on the fine line between old-school Nashville and ghostly Americana. Accompanied by hauntingly spare production, her plaintive voice on "Bang the Drum Slowly" (a tribute to her late father) is the sound of love and loss entwined.

Marshall Crenshaw This Is Easy: The Best Of Rhino Is it really such a heinous crime to sound like Buddy Holly? You'd think so, judging from the lack of attention Crenshaw has received since his 1982 debut. Sure, there has been the occasional hit like "Someday, Someway," but c'mon--if listening to pop that makes you feel this good is wrong, then who'd want to be right?

Ryan Adams Heartbreaker Bloodshot Records Not to be confused with Canadian cheese-rocker Bryan Adams, this Adams has talent to spare. Kick starting with the rollicking, Dylanesque "To Be Young," Adams' twang-inflected CD only gets better as it goes on. Recorded in Nashville in 14 days, it sounds like a whiskey-soaked diary of a very bad breakup.

Thievery Corporation The Mirror Conspiracy Eighteenth Street Lounge Music Proof that not everything that blows out of Washington, D.C., is downright odious, Thievery Corporation crafts low-key chill-out music that doesn't feel as if it had a trendiness expiration date. Sexy, ethereal dance beats flavored with just the right amount of highball cool.