The Dead's anything-goes outlook begins with American roots music. The Rev. Blind Gary Davis' gritty gospel-blues ("I Saw the Light") and the Bakersfield country of Merle Haggard ("I'm a Lonesome Fugitive") inspired reverent, if jumped-up, covers. And you can hear the bones of the Dead's extended improv anthem "Dark Star" in German futurist Karlheinz Stockhausen's electronic "Kontakte."