In 1999 the Red Hot Organization produced Red Hot + Blue, an album of contemporary artists reinterpreting the music of Cole Porter. In doing so they raised the bar on the benefit compilation. Since then the Red Hot Organization has produced thirteen additional compilation albums, including the amazing Red Hot + Riot, all in the name of raising funds to fight HIV and AIDS.
On February 17 Red Hot is releasing the latest album in their benefit series, Dark Was The Night. The album features 31 exclusive tracks produced by The National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner. I'm excited because the artist line-up looks like a muster roll of my Last.fm library.
You can pre-order Dark Was The Night now, but if you want an early taste, download The Books and Jose Gonzalez cover of Nick Drake's beautiful "Cello Song" via I Guess I'm Floating.
UPDATE: Download no longer available, but you can hear snippets of tracks on the Dark Was The Night site.
