Court Yard Hounds are sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire — two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks, not a bad place to start for a country duo. Toss in plentiful two-part harmonies, a few ringing love songs ("The Coast"), the odd woodsy Band-like ballad ("See You in the Spring," with Jakob Dylan) and some gorgeous guitar-and-violin folk songs ("April's Love"), and it adds up to one of the year's better country records. Natalie Maines' feistiness is missed, but Robison, who wrote most of the songs, has a way with a hook — and those harmonies make even the weepiest weepers go down smooth.

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."