Juno (Music from the Motion Picture)

Director Jason Reitman’s film about a young couple’s unexpected pregnancy provides a soundtrack that primarily reflects a childlike sense of wonder. Kimya Dawson appears solo, with her old group, the Moldy Peaches, and her side project Antsy Pants. Her contributions, regardless of name, reflect the open-eyed whimsy that Dawson applies to all her work. (“Tire Swing,” for example, features a whistling solo.) Several short instrumentals from Dawson provide the film’s incidental music, while children’s music singer Barry Louis Polisar adds a harmonica-driven folk-tune “All I Want Is You” and 1960s legends the Velvet Underground are represented by the Maureen Tucker sung lullaby “I’m Sticking With You.” Rounding out the soundtrack are an odd assortment of classic rockers, from Buddy Holly’s obscure “Dearest” to the more obvious Kinks tune “A Well Respected Man” and Mott the Hoople’s David Bowie-penned “All the Young Dudes.” Cat Power’s dour take on Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love” is matched by Sonic Youth’s dark, whispered interpretation of the Carpenters’ “Superstar,” that once appeared on a tribute to the ‘70s duo.