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As with Bon Iver on Letterman a couple of days ago, Fleet Foxes on Conan is a nice way to wind down 2008. Both have logged some serious miles this year touring behind very strong records. I've been looking for a YouTube of this one but no luck yet (NBC's not a big fan of those). So video comes courtesy of Hulu, which is using pretty harsh compression on the audio here, plus you have to sit through an ad. Still worth a look for this lovely song.

Video:> Fleet Foxes: "English House" (Live on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien")
[original version from Sun Giant; available from Sub Pop]

Peter Gabriel/Ezra Koenig photos by Ahmed Klink

"Hot Chip Cover Vampire Weekend With Peter Gabriel?", we asked in a news story back in September. The answer? Yep. Abeano today posted a stream of the song, which they say was once intended for a Vampire Weekend B-side but was shelved. All things considered, it's pretty much exactly what you'd hope for from such a wtf one-off. "This feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel, too," is followed by "It feels so unnatural to sing your own name." And then somewhere in there he stars wailing like he wandered into "The Blood of Eden". (Abeano, via NME)

Stream:> Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Recorded for Tapulous' Christmas With Weezer iPhone application, Weezer's version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" plays it pretty straight. They pump up the guitars but don't mess with the song otherwise, and you can almost taste the figgy pudding. (via Spin)

There have been a lot of songs through the ages about wanting something for Christmas, from teeth to a real good tan on down, but the most common Santa wish in pop is some variation on "You." That's what the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are asking for on this appealing track posted to their MySpace, which kind of slinks along with a half-drunken gait as the fuzzy distorted guitar winds through those "In the Still of the Night" chords and the elves say "Fa-la-la-la-la-la."

Stream:> Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "All I Want for Christmas"

Bon Iver doing "Skinny Love" on Letterman late last week is a nice enough way to wind things down; it was certainly Justin Vernon's year. Pitchfork readers had For Emma, Forever Ago in their top 5 (though we had it at no. 29 our 2007 list in its self-released form). Down the road when I'm thinking back on 2008, I'll be remembering this one. Here's what it sounded like after a billion shows this year.

Fire and ice can both burn flesh. Swedish sibling duo the Knife understand: Alien detachment, intellectual coldness, and creepy horrorshow undertones meet with blistering emotion in their synth-based records, which include 2006's stunning Silent Shout and its "Heartbeats"-featuring predecessors. "If I Had a Heart", the first track to emerge from the Knife female half Karin Dreijer Andersson's solo project as Fever Ray, puts the dry ice right against raw skin and holds it there for as long as the track can bear.

No heartbeats, but a radioactive hum underlies the entire song, while a more percussive synth click-clacks the rudimentary melodic backing. "This will never end 'cause I want more," Dreijer begins, in harmony with a goblin-like version of her own voice. The droning electronic details-- a bright ping here, a metallic buzzing there-- come slow but dizzyingly, joined by another, higher Dreijer vocal and a subtly throbbing bass drum sound. "If I had a heart I could love you," goes a crucial line. This does end, eventually, when that fluorescent-grey hum finally subsides. Whether caused by excruciating heat or excruciating cold, those scars where a human heart should be aren't going anywhere. More, like Britney, gimme more.

[from the "Fever Ray" single; out now on Beatport, Klicktrack, and ITunes; also on a forthcoming album; due 03/18/09 on Rabid in Sweden, 03/23/09 in the UK, and 03/24/09 in the U.S., on Mute]

Director Saam Farahmand filmed the Belgian duo Radio Soulwax on a tour that spanned 120 shows in Europe, Japan, the U.S., Latin America, and Australia. The film features interviews and appearances from tour-mates and associates including James Murphy, Justice, Peaches, Klaxons, and others, in addition to tons of performance footage. The DVD is available from their official site.

Toss the popcorn bag in the microwave and bust out the Sprite, tonight's the big night: Daft Punk's mysterious road odyssey Electroma screens on Pitchfork.tv. The movie, a story about "two robots who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human," to pull a quote from a recent news story, is playing from now until Saturday, December 13 at 8 p.m. EST. Electroma is available on DVD from Vice. C'est Magnifique.

Update: That's it! Thanks for watching. Check out Radio Soulwax in Part of the Weekend Never Dies.

So, we have a new book out, The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present, published by the Simon & Schuster imprint Fireside Books. It explores our 500 favorite songs from 1977-2006-- interspersed with sidebars on the most vital subgenres from electro to grime to riot grrrl-- to construct an alternate history of the past three decades of popular music. In the coming weeks we'll be posting streams of tracks from the book here in Forkcast and giving you a sneak peek at some of the entries. 

We recently announced The Pitchfork 500 iPod Giveaway Sweepstakes. Go to the contest's website and type in your information before 9 p.m. EST on December 15 to enter. What might you win, you ask? Well, the grand prize winner will receive an iPod Classic and a $100 iTunes gift card, and 10 lucky first prize winners will score a copy of the book.

Speaking of which, The Pitchfork 500 is available in your local bookstore right now. Or you can order it via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Insound, Powells, or Simon & Schuster.

And now, here's Matt LeMay on Pavement's "Summer Babe", with a stream (good for one free play every 24 hours, via Lala) below the text.