Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy - 'The Brave and The Bold' (Domino) Released 23/01/06

It doesn't sound like the most promising of prospects. Two revered US art-rock institutions - Chicago's chiefs of chin-stroking post-rock and the conquering ruler of gothic alt. country - get together to tackle a near-insanely eclectic selection of tunes from sources so varied it makes the adventurous, from Hank Williams to Danzig scope of Johnny Cash's American Recordings albums seem wary and conservative in comparison. 

Anyone expecting a mildly amusing curio or worse will most likely have their preconceptions trampled by the time they venture past the lightweight sub-Santana latino pop of the first track. Shorn of the stadium-sized original's fist-pumping bombast, the low-key re-tooling of 'Thunder Road' that follows reveals the whiff of defeat and desperation lurking underneath the original's pomp and bravado. With both Will Oldham's vulnerable vocals - his superb singing throughout the album is a revelation - and Tortoise's metronomic musicianship managing to locate the warmth that sometimes evades them on their individual outputs, this sparkling rendition turns Springsteen's triumphant, escapist rock 'n' roll symphony into a haunting lament to loneliness. It's startling stuff, surely destined to collect a trophy or two if there's ever a poll to name the finest cover versions.

Although by no means embarrassing or mediocre, what follows can't quite scale these extraordinarily epic heights again, although the sorrowful reading of Don Williams's cornball-country buddy anthem 'Pancho' comes damn close in terms of sheer sadness-tinged beauty. A spooky take on Elton John's 'Daniel' is also a treat, as are a drone-drenched reading of Lungfish's 'Love Is Love' and a faithful rendition of Richard Thompson's great 'Calvary Cross'. A sparse version of Melanie's 'Some Say (I Got Devil)', meanwhile, is the nearest thing to the downcast tone of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's back catalogue here, while a surprisingly palatable workout on self-consciously wacky Devo's quirky new wave fuzz-fest 'It's Pep!' is not that far removed from the more abstract offerings in the Tortoise oeuvre.  

All told, 'The Brave And The Bold' is required listening to anyone suspecting that cover albums exist only as the last resort of creatively bankrupt yesterday's news, while fans of Tortoise, Will Oldham or both will find plenty to savour here. Superb.