There were only 4 songs left on the A.V. Club’s “Undercover” list, but the choice was simple for the Swell Season’s Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, and friends as the folk-rock troupe had just recently taken on Neutral Milk Hotel songs at an all-night session with a friend. “Two-Headed Boy,” Jeff Mangum’s unsettling ode to an imaginary child—possibly inspired by the two Peters (Schiff and van Pels/Daan) in Anne Frank’s diary—has been notoriously covered by others in recent years as well, namely the Dresden Dolls and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold.

All three of these covers nail the mournful fury of the original, which is more a testament to Mangum’s brilliant songwriting than anything, I’d say. As Crumbler points out, the Swell Season are clearly fans of the classic In the Aeroplane Over the Sea LP in full as they channel “King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2-3” for the thrilling outro. Check out the Dresden Dolls and Robin Pecknold’s renditions of “Two-Headed Boy” below and the Swell Season’s take here.

After it’s been all quiet on the Fleet Foxes front for the past few months (save for Robin Pecknold live videos and J. Tillman’s haunting new solo track), their official site was just updated with lots of treats for fans anticipating the follow-up to their breakthrough debut.

First off, the band posted a couple dozen pro-shot photos, such as the one above, taken this spring and summer during recording sessions for their second album. Aside from what looks like a remote laptop-recorded session in an abandoned building, the album appears to be tracked primarily to (my personal fave) analog tape. What’s more, an excellent behind-the-scenes/live documentary featuring 14 minutes of footage from Pecknold’s recent solo tour with Joanna Newsom has also been uploaded to stream. Notably, one sequence in the film includes the Fleet Foxes frontman covering Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game,” the same oft-covered tune that Laura Marling recorded with Jack White recently.

Exciting times, indeed. Check out the photo collection here and tour doc here.

After a mere 3-day recording session with the great Steve Albini back in February, solo artist and Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman will drop his seventh LP since 2004’s I Will Return on September 14 via Western Vinyl. Although I’m familiar and fond of Tillman’s previous work, my curiosity for this record was truly piqued by Albini’s name, as the outspoken engineer’s quieter acoustic albums — such as Will Oldham’s Arise Therefore —   are among my favorite stripped down recordings of all time.

As Aquarium Drunkard reveals, “Three Sisters” enlists Albini’s own drum machine, used previously with his mid-80s rock outfit Big Black. (Though I don’t think it’s the same machine, percussive samples here recall the aforementioned Oldham record, as well.) Stream Tillman’s stark, haunting track below and/or download it with another another new tune, “A Seat at the Table,” at MOKB:

When it comes to choosing opening acts, Joanna Newsom, who first gained notoriety while supporting Bonnie “Prince” Billy on tour, knows how to relish the opportunity: Newsom has tapped British folk legend Roy Harper to make a pair of very rare live appearances at her upcoming Royal Festival Hall shows in London this spring, not to mention Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold has been booked to open a string of our favorite harpist’s North American tour dates, as well.

Not only has Newsom cited Harper numerous times as a major influence on her last album, YS, and named his “Me and My Woman” as one of her three “favorite song[s] ever,” but Harper has actually opened for Newsom before, as well, at London’s Royal Albert Hall back in 2007.

Care to hear live versions of Newsom’s new triple album, Have One on Me, and/or possibly a few new Fleet Foxes tunes? Check out the Pecknold/Newsom dates here, and the rest of her itinerary thataway.

It’s safe to say that Pope Benedict didn’t curate the Vatican’s new MySpace celebrity playlist (I mean, U2 would’ve totally been on there), but Vatican City clearly houses at least one DJ with eclectic tastes. To celebrate the launch of MySpace Music in the UK, the social networking site posted celebrity playlists by a handful of actual, human celebrities (Nelly Furtado, etc.), plus one curated by a city-state.

Sure, Mozart made the cut, as did “Advocata Nostra” from the Pope’s first solo album (seriously), but then things get interesting: Fleet Foxes’ “He Doesn’t Know Why,” Muse’s recent hit “Uprising,” and Tupac’s “Changes” are listed, as well. Tupac’s classic song about gang life and police brutality is labeled “explicit,” but I’m still a bit surprised the Holy See had the guts to endorse gangsta rap.

Here’s how they explain their choices:

We’ve been sitting on this bit for a few days now, but the album officially went up for sale only hours ago, so let’s spread the word: Caffé Vita, a coffee shop with four locations in Seattle and one in Olympia, WA, is releasing a compilation album with over 30 Seattle-based artists to benefit Arts Corp and numerous food banks.

For $7, you get the following tracks, plus six more songs (see below) that are still being recorded and will be emailed at a later date.

Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold truly knows the power of the internet when it comes to breaking new music: With the wind of glowing reviews from Pitchfork and countless mp3 bloggers at their back, Fleet Foxes became probably the biggest musical success story from last year and they even made the transition from online buzz band to household name look easy with their appearance on Saturday Night Live earlier this year. It’s very likely that illegal downloading also played a crucial role in his band’s explosion and Pecknold is not about to bite the hand that fed him.

“I think we’re seeing that now with tons of new bands that are amazing, and are doing way better music now than was being made pre-Napster,” Pecknold told BBC News. Not only does he think illegal filesharing has been good for music, Pecknold admits that it was integral to his musical upbringing: “That was how I was exposed to almost all of the music that I love to this day, and still that’s the easiest way to find really obscure stuff,” he added. “I’ve discovered so much music through that medium. That will be true of any artist my age, absolutely.”

And in case he wasn’t being enough of a thorn in the side to the infamous piracy flashlight cop the Web Sheriff, Pecknold drove the point home: “I’ve downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records - why would I care if somebody downloads ours? That’s such a petty thing to care about. I mean, how much money does one person need? I think it’s disgusting when people complain about that, personally.”