Plenty of memorable movie soundtracks mix the songs of multiple artists, sometimes unified by a musical genre or era. But then, there are the primarily one-artist/one-band wonders, sometimes spurred by music previously unknown or out of mainstream range. Woven into a film, these thematically in-tune melodies become compelling characters in their own right. A boon for musicians in need of broader marketing, and for audiences who may not have fallen in love with their sound otherwise.

I'm betting at least one of these five soundtracks has stirred your musical soul...

1. Once, Glen Hansard/The Frames and Marketa Irglova
It's not quite a musical, but it's definitely music that makes this movie a masterpiece -- that of Glen Hansard (lead singer of Irish band the Frames) and co-star Marketa Irglova. Hansard (and band) rose out of underground and local celebrity to international acclaim earning a 2008 Oscar for the fragile and fiercely beautiful ballad "Falling Slowly" he wrote with Irglova. Culled partly from the pair's creative collaboration, plus to an equal degree Hansard and the Frames' previous work, Once's aching, raging, romantically swelling songs are the stars of nearly every scene.

2. Magnolia, Aimee Mann
"Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?" This opening line from Aimee Mann's song "Deathly" hooked director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson and inspired him to pen Magnolia. Mann's songs, old and new, served as a springboard for the film's dysfunctional symphony of fragile relationships. The film's "Wise Up" sing along is breathtaking.

3. Good Will Hunting, Elliott Smith
The success of this Damon-Affleck debut runneth-ed over into the musical career of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. His acoustic guitar accompanied by melancholy lyrics, multi-layered harmonies, and whispery thin vocals were an instant hit, garnering him a 1998 Academy Award nom for "Miss Misery."

4. Dead Man, Neil Young
Reportedly Young recorded the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch and Johnny Depp's Wild West spirit quest by improvising on his guitar while previewing the film alone in a recording studio. His eerie instrumental tracks etch a surreal landscape that narrates the tale of William Blake's descent into desperado-dom as well as any of Dead Man's acting, dialogue, or direction.

5. Away We Go, Alexi Murdoch
Though perhaps not yet an Oscar-nominated phenom, I predict a surge in popularity if not an Academy nod for Scottish singer-songwriter Alexi Murdoch's soulful, rambling folk-guitar serenade. His lush, lovely, cinematically pitch-perfect notes are the film's sweetly sincere emotional heartbeat.

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