CD of the Week: MARK RONSON Version Columbia ****

A well-executed cover version is a joy to behold. It could be the haunted authority with which Johnny Cash took ownership of Will Oldham's I See a Darkness and Trent Reznor's Hurt or the manner in which Nouvelle Vague breezily recast austere, steely grey post-punk anthems like Love Will Tear Us Apart and A Forest into bossa-nova fancies.

An cover which spins the familiar into something new is always welcome. As difficult as it may be to imagine, Mark Ronson's new album has Coldplay jigging about powered by a great big wallop of brash brass, The Smiths recast as Motown stompers, and arch frowners Radiohead given a jazzy nip and tuck.

Every tune on the wonderfully fresh Version works because Ronson knows exactly what he's doing. The London-born, New York-based producer has attracted much applause for his work with Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Rhyme- fest and Christina Aguilera. He has a fantastic touch when it comes to shaping modern pop tunes with a twist, the result of a career spent DJ-ing as much as producing.

The po-faced dullness of Coldplay's original God Put a Smile Upon Your Face is replaced by a joyous groove courtesy of the Daptone Horns, while Australian singer Daniel Merriweather turns The Smiths' Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before into a Smokey Robinson moment. If Ol' Dirty Bastard's sinister vocals on Toxic are as far removed from Britney as you can get, a Kenna take on Ryan Adams's Amy is from a similar planet.

Yes, there are a few miscues - Robbie Williams sounds like he thought he was at a karaoke session for The Charlatans' The Only One I Know - but they highlight just how difficult it can be for some singers to helm a sonic reinvention. All credit, then, to Ronson for the pop bobbydazzler of the season. www.markronson.co.uk Jim Carroll

Download tracks: Toxic, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face