It’s not easy to get inside the mind of Cass McCombs, primarily because he seems to revel in his misanthropy as a perennial alt-folk outsider. But that’s exactly the hook that draws you in; he finds a vast wellspring of humor in his chosen path, which might explain why he has collaborated with so many people over the years and, in the end, why A Folk Set Apart became such a necessity. Comprised largely of songs from limited edition, split 7-inch releases, with everyone from the Meat Puppets to White Magic, and featuring guest appearances from Phish’s Mike Gordon, Deerhoof’s Chris Cohen and more, it’s an exceedingly quirky collection, and somehow opens more doors to McCombs’ undeniable talent as a singer-songwriter than anything he’s released previously. At one end, there’s the sunny, Chris Stamey-ish mood of the oddly catchy “Evangeline” and the riveting narrative of “Bradley Manning;” at the other, the bent avant-garde leanings of “Texas” (with Gordon on vocals) and the ghostly blues of “The State Will Take Care of Me.” Whatever your left-field tastes are in indie music, you’ll find them waiting patiently for you here.