Country music reclaimed its traditional soul with the chart-topping triumph of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Down From The Mountain, the concert sequel, recorded (and filmed) at Nashville's venerable Ryman Auditorium, reunites Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss and Union Station and other O Brother standouts. With little duplication, the selection extends the film's revival of acoustic spirituals and Appalachian balladry, though the performances and pacing of the concert aren't quite as consistently compelling as the studio soundtrack. Among the highlights is a pair of originals by Welch and David Rawlings, the bluesy "Dear Someone" and the Everlyesque "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll". Where O Brother interspersed archival recordings among the contemporary artistry, the concert finds Nashville gospel's Fairfield Four harmonising on the chain-gang chant of "Po' Lazarus", while the late John Hartford (in one of his final performances) renews the deadpan whimsy of "Big Rock Candy Mountain". -Don McLeese.

The party line on most Windham Hill products seems to be that it's either the greatest stuff since wave machines, or that it all sounds alike. On a Starry Night, with its collection of world songs and reputable artists such as Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, the Turtle Island String Quartet, and others, does lean toward a seamlessly understated, homogeneous quality that is broken only occasionally by Bobby McFerrin's piece and a couple of others. That said, there can hardly be a more mellow or sonorous album of kid's music anywhere. Starry Night could calm a nursery with no nurses; why, it could even soothe the pained yelps at the dog pound-and turn a freeway full of bumper-to-bumper sour pusses into pussycats. Effective? You've heard of mind control, haven't you? -Martin Keller.

Clear-headed, open-hearted and joyous, Steve Earle's Transcendental Blues is as essential an album as Nashville will offer in 2000. Of course, at this point in a career, most older-and-wiser hell-raisers are content to feint those rebellious moves of old in the hopes that if you squint, it still looks like they're charging the barricades. But perhaps not surprisingly for a six-times divorcé who once named an album The Hard Way and sounded like he meant it, Earle pulls no punches, delivering this full-throttle set with the energy of someone half his age and the sharpened focus of hard-won honesty ("I Don't Want To Lose You Yet"), humility ("I Can Wait") and empathy ("Over Yonder [Jonathan's Song]"). Featuring able contributions from sister Stacey ("When I Fall"), Irish accordionist Sharron Shannon's band (Celtic knees-ups "Steve's Last Ramble" and "The Galway Girl"), the ghost of Revolver-era Beatles ("Everyone's In Love With You") and bluegrass ("Until The Day I Die"), Earle may have found the perfect balance between his restless musical ambitions and the thunderous sounds his core audience will pay good tattoo-and-beer money to hear again. And in the unabashed, gut-driven rock & roll wallop of "Another Town" and "Wherever I Go", it's hard to believe even the hardest of them will feel shortchanged. Evidently, Steve Earle still ain't satisfied. Much to everyone else's satisfaction. -Jennifer Nine.