VA - The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Soundtracks can sometimes be disjointed affairs, lacking the cohesion necessary to create a mood when collecting songs from various artists. This is a pitfall the soundtrack from the forthcoming film The Horse Whisperer melodically and artfully avoids. From the first honest, unsentimental notes of Dwight Yoakam's "Cattle Call" you are taken wholeheartedly onto this wide-open prairie of soulful, plaintive music. The Horse Whisperer soundtrack is a fluid, coherent gathering of the most literate and distinctive voices in country music today, including Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, The Mavericks, Iris DeMent, and The Hill Country Flatlanders (featuring original Flatlanders Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and Joe Ely). This spare, haunting ensemble of wistful twangs and hopeful hearts is a must-have for any country collection. --Dominique D'Anna