Monday, Nov. 03, 2008

Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal

This chorale roundelay about a school trip to the woods in winter is just 52 words and two-and-a-half minutes long. Songs don't get tinier, but Fleet Foxes pack their miniature tale with an eerie plot ("I was following the pack/ All swallowed in their coats/ With scarves of red tied 'round their throats") repeated with slightly more instrumental oomph in each of the three verses and sung in the sweetest of Beach Boys inflected four-part harmonies. It's as quaint and precious as a Joseph Cornell box, and just about as pretty.

Hear excerpts from all the top songs of 2008: