Tortoise and Will Oldham have been mutual admirers of each other's work for years, but they never got around to working with one another. That has all changed as Chicago's finest post-rockers enlist Oldham (in his Bonnie Prince Billy guise) to record an album of cover versions. On The Brave & The Bold, these quite natural bedfellows rework ten very different tracks by artists as diverse as Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Milton Nascimento. The album starts out well with a cracking version of Nascimento's "Cravo E Canela" that retains the original's upbeat Latino-rock spirit. The songs that follow are all interesting choices but offer mixed results. Richard Thompson's superlative "The Calvary Cross" and Devo's energetic "That's Pep!" are certainly effective, as is the stylish version of Don William's "Pancho"; but the versions of Springsteen's "Thunder Road" and Elton John's "Daniel" feel bloodless. And that's the problem in general: despite a plethora of inspired moments and several great covers, the album in general vies too often for a nonchalant middle ground.--Paul Sullivan
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