O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2012)

The accompanying disc to the new Coen brothers picture is a who's who of today's traditionalists, including Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, bluesman Chris Thomas King, and Norman Blake -- whose austere take on ''You Are My Sunshine'' steals the show. Brother beautifully re-creates the sounds of the Depression-era Deep South and, as an album, easily stands on its own. Ironically, only as a supporting project would something this resolutely noncommercial get major-label backing.