New Dark Was The Night Tracks Start To Surface, Release Confirmed For February

The Red Hot organization has long been putting out releases to combat, and help with the fight against, AIDS (may we recommend the Bowie version of "A Foggy Day In London Town" on Red Hot And Rhapsody? It's amazing.). Well, the organization's latest release is entitled Dark Was The Night, and features a whopping 31 (two discs!) tracks from today's indie rock scene. The comp features many of our faves - so many, in fact, that we're not even going to name drop a particular few (for that, check the list below).

So anyhoo, news of the comp has been around for a while, but now it's getting "real". The project's myspace page will stream one of the tracks every day (in order) in an attempt to entice you, the buyer. And well, frankly, what can we say? You should really buy it. It's an awesome compilation for an awesome cause, and in this world of downloads and torrents, this is one spot where putting your money out there will actually help someone. Put differently, if you snag this one illegally, we will judge you. The record is out February 17th on 4AD.

In the meantime the first track from the album entitled"Knotty Pine", a collaboration between David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors, has made its way on to the web for mass consumption. The track really does a fantastic job at melding both artists styles - the Dirty Projector's wailing vocals and pulsing rhythms are firmly in place, but Byrne's playful guitars and vocal style fill out the mix to really give the song a more "up" feel than is typical of the Dirty Projectors. What's more, Longstreth and Byrne's vocals meld almost perfectly - when they sing in unison, it's like some new found super-voice. What we're really curious about is the guitar solo at the end: Byrne or Longstreth? We're feeling Byrne, but take a listen and let us know what you think.

mp3: David Byrne And The Dirty Projectors - Knotty Pine (mp3 courtesy Stereogum)

Dark Was The Night Tracklisting
THIS DISC:

1. "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. "Cello Song" - The Books featuring Joses Gonzalez
3. "Train Song" - Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
5. "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
6. "So Far Around The Bend" - The National
7. "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
8. "Feeling Good" - My Brightest Diamond
9. "Dark Was The Night" - Kronos Quartet
10. "I Was Young When I Left Home" - Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13. "Die" - Iron & Wine
14. "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC:

1. "Well-Alright" - Spoon
2. "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
3. "Mimizan" - Beirut
4. "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
5. "Inspiration Information" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. "With A Girl Like You" - Dave Sitek
7. "Blood Pt. 2" - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. "Hey, Snow White" - The New Pornographers
9. "Gentle Hour" - Yo La Tengo
10. "Amazing Grace" - Cat Power
11. "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12. "Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch
13. "The Giant Of Illinois" - Andrew Bird
14. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. "When The Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. "Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew