For the uninitiated, a covers album might smooth the treacherous path into Johnston’s disarmingly vivid world. Overseen by Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, this incredible line-up ?Flaming Lips, Beck, Mercury Rev, Tom Waits?has been assembled to help fund the 42-year-old’s proposed move to a house of his own in Texas after a lifetime of mental disorder. Strongest when bottling the vulnerability beneath the eardrum assault, this collection is near faultless. In particular, Calvin Johnson’s “Sorry Entertainer” and Bright Eyes’ “Devil Town” are brittle slivers of beauty, while the Lips and Sparklehorse make dreamy delight of the hitherto abrasive “Go”. A second disc features all 18 of Johnston’s originals, plus the previously unavailable “Rock This Town”