Pitchfork.TV Does "Dark Was the Night"

Dark Was the Night, a charity compilation benefitting the Red Hot Organization, might be my album of the year at this point. Artists like The National, Jose Gonzalez, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, and The Decemberists (just to name a few) participated, and pretty much everybody turned in something really good.

Pitchfork Media's internet video channel, Pitchfork.TV, is currently broadcasting three "Special Presentations" that feature conversations with different bands who took part in the project, as well as live renditions of the tracks they contributed (they managed to pick three of the very best tracks, too). The first video to be released features The National, whose Aaron and Bryce Dessner (one of the two pairs of brothers in the band) co-produced the entire project. They perform "So Far Around the Bend", which just might be the best song of the entire bunch. Yeasayer and Dirty Projectors are also featured:

(By the way, if the interviews aren't for you, I highly recommend skipping past them to hear the performances; they're worth it.)

The National "So Far Around the Bend"

Yeasayer "Tightrope"

Dirty Projectors "Knotty Pine"