Country music has become a free-trade zone: Witness "Emmylou," a love song about Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, sung by two Swedes with old-school sibling-act harmonies. Johanna and Klara Söderberg are indie rockers at heart: They recorded this set in Omaha with Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis; Conor Oberst does his own Gram Parsons turn on "King of the World." The songs shuffle styles, but the voices transcend genre distinctions – you may not hear a more beautifully sung record this year.

Listen to "Emmylou":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."