Jeff Bridges isn't only a singer onscreen; see his 2000 indie LP, Be Here Soon, featuring "Movin'," a charming (if awkward) reggae jam, and his soulful honky-tonk contributions to the Crazy Heart soundtrack. Sure, this album gains depth from his film history - these laid-back country-rock songs suggest a cleaned-up Bad Blake, or a Dude with ambitions beyond the bowling lanes. But with T Bone Burnett's production and vocal assists from Rosanne Cash and Sam Phillips, Bridges' leathery voice makes this music sound lived-in. The Everly Brothers-style "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do" is the highlight, a pep-talk-turned-come-on from an earthy singer as affable as his film characters.

Listen to "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do":

Related:
• The 10 Greatest Roles of Jeff Bridges

“IRM”

Fashioned to mimic the sound of a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, "IRM" (the French designation for the brain scan) grew out of Gainsbourg’s love of the sound of the clickety-clack of medical machinery. The IRM album project also marked the fulfillment of two goals for the singer: to document a traumatic experience, and to record an album with Beck. Though her co-creator and producer didn’t necessarily know the details of her water-skiing accident and resulting cerebral hemorrhage (which lead to the IRM of the song's title), he somehow knew how to handle the material. "Beck had a way of guessing what I was thinking and feeling without me telling him," said Gainsbourg. "We never discussed these things explicitly."