Juno (Soundtrack)
Rhino R2 410236
Format: CD

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The soundtrack album for Juno is as fun, lighthearted, and smart as the film itself. The artists featured are mostly of the underground, alternative, quirky type, and include Kimya Dawson, the Moldy Peaches, Mott the Hoople, and Antsy Pants; rounding out the mix are not-so-underground but equally quirky bands such as Cat Power, Belle & Sebastian, and the Velvet Underground. Neither the film nor the soundtrack aims for pretension, and that’s the secret of the success of both. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Juno is fresh and endearing, and though more drama than comedy, it’s funnier than most films that deliberately strive for laughs. The film and score are so complementary and intrinsic to one another that they appear to have been arranged simultaneously rather than in postproduction -- both will win your heart and are well worth your while….Shannon Holliday

Eagles: Long Road Out of Eden
Eagles Recording Company 98268-4500-2
Format: CD

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There’s a pretty good argument to be made for the Eagles’ having been the most influential band of the 1970s, but you can’t really hear them much in current rock. Turn on any country-music station, however, and their sound is everywhere. Long Road Out of Eden, the band’s first studio recording in 28 years, lists four coproducers (plus the band as primary producers), loads of recording engineers, and a passel of supporting musicians. Despite so many hands at work, the album has a consistent, clean, and relatively uncompressed sound, and it’s the most likable Eagles disc since One of These Nights (1975). The trademarks are all there: soaring, complex harmonies, Joe Walsh’s stinging slide guitar (not enough of that), and firm grasps of both rock’n’roll and country. "How Long" echoes the best of the band’s run of AM hits in the ’70s, while "No More Walks in the Wood" and the title track typify the political convictions that run through this set’s two discs. At 90 minutes, Long Road Out of Eden could perhaps have been trimmed a bit to make a good single disc, but the good outweighs the bad -- and at $11.99 list, the Eagles give their fans good value….Joseph Taylor

Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Music, Vol.1
BBC Concert Orchestra; Jeffrey Biegel, piano; Leonard Slatkin, conductor.
Naxos 8559313
Format: CD

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Leroy Anderson’s ingenious scoring was always as critical a factor as the actual content of his striking miniatures. So, of course, was the matter of performance: his pieces could not be sight-read, but required high-level musicianship and meticulous preparation. Arthur Fiedler started him off, as arranger for the Boston Pops, and Fiedler, Frederick Fennell, Maurice Abravanel, and Anderson himself left us splendid recordings of Andersoniana. Leonard Slatkin, who joined this distinguished roster more than 15 years ago in one of his last recordings with the Saint Louis Symphony, now has embarked on a five-disc series of all of Anderson’s music for orchestra. Vol.1 comprises 14 of these vignettes, some as well known as Belle of the Ball, Blue Tango, China Doll, etc., and some virtually unknown: Balladette, Arietta, Governor Bradford March, etc. Also included is the composer’s only formal concert work, a concise but potent Piano Concerto about which Anderson had doubts, but needn’t have. Eugene List must have had fun with it in its 1953 premiere; Jeffrey Biegel and Slatkin certainly do here, presenting us, in agreeably spacious sound, with a scintillating piece substantial enough for subscription concerts….Richard Freed

Dave Insley: West Texas Wine
D.I.R. 120
Format: CD

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The folks who have unofficially replaced the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1940s and ’50s don’t typically prowl country music for targets. But subtle subversiveness lurks beneath Dave Insley’s straight country sound. Is that Willie Nelson? Voice not twangy enough. Is that one more sentimental remembering-Mom song? Listen closely: It’s as much about a neurotic Dad. Another lost-love lament? That one turns out to depict the heavy drinking that might have driven the girl away in the first place. Listen to Insley’s new CD, West Texas Wine, for his fine, clear singing and catchy tunes, and for the fine backup of the Careless Smokers’ -- Insley’s road band in one place for a moment -- all nicely recorded and mixed. But pay attention: The insights might run funnier and deeper than you at first suspect….David Cantor 

Moreland & Arbuckle: 1861
Northern Blues Music NBM0044
Format: CD

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Bluesmen Moreland & Arbuckle hail proudly from Kansas, and their 1861 -- a tribute to that state’s induction into the Union -- is their first album on the Canadian label Northern Blues Music. The 12 tracks are raucous and real, edgy with raw distortion, and driven by drummer Brad Horner’s backbeat, which smokes like a freight train. Dustin Arbuckle, on vocals and harmonica, infuses each song with rich resonance and warmth, while his partner, Aaron Moreland, keeps it grungy with electric, resonator, parlor, and cigar-box guitars. The opener, a cover of Hound Dog Taylor’s "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia," sets the pace for the rollicking, rocking rest of the disc. "The Legend" follows a heart-hardened Vietnam War veteran through 40 years of emotional and spiritual pain, and features a guest appearance by Jeffrey Eaton on a one-string bass homemade from a gas tank. The blues lives in each track, lamenting good men, bad women, a lack of luck, and a mess of trouble….Shannon Holliday