Almost You: The Songs of Elvis Costello (2003)

Tired of rebuying Costello's repeatedly repackaged back catalog or pretending to love his new records? Here are some fresh takes on the classics by a dozen-plus indie-rock newbies, who negotiate even his trickiest changes with aplomb. Aside from a surprisingly convincing Brutal Youth number (the Damnations' atmospheric ''Still Too Soon to Know''), it's all primo '70s-'80s stuff, with nods to the undersung Get Happy (Okkervil River's radically bipolar ''Riot Act'') and King of America (twin versions of the love-during-wartime ballad ''Sleep of the Just''). A reminder that Costello still has the richest songbook of his generation. THEIR AIM IS TRUE ''(the angels wanna wear my) Red Shoes'' by alt-country dreamers Hem and ''Alison'' by cranky romantic Vic Chesnutt and friends make overfamiliar tracks just familiar enough.