In June, when John Maus shared the track "Bennington" from his upcoming Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material, I decided to write him an open letter about the song in lieu of the customary, disposable, three-sentence blurb. Three weeks passed, and while I had hoped for a reply, I never really expected one. Yesterday, out of the blue, John sent a cryptic email stating that a person by the name of "Frank James" had ripped up Ad Hoc and that I should go clean up the mess he made. He signed off with a winky face.

The following is John Maus' response, a staggering 24,000 words posted over the span of 20 blog comments. Long enough to fill a small book, the piece includes some backstory on the rarities collection, a revisiting of his much-misunderstood comments on record store closings, and an in-depth musicological analysis of Gary War. There's also an extended meditation on the subject of unrequited love, along with a reprinting of his letters to the girl from Bennington between the years 2005 and 2009. Wow.

Gorilla Vs. Bear is streaming John "Mr. Big Hands" Maus' latest compilation of rarities that have gone largely unheard by fans who don't troll Mausspace all day. The collection culls from sixteen sketches, its oldest demo dating back to 1999 (best Woodstock ever?). Each track has been lovingly remastered and pressed on vinyl, 500 of which are pink!!

Stream it, then buy it from Ribbon Music.

Dear John Maus,

How are you? I am fine. I heard you're formally releasing all of those songs that you posted on Mausspace on Ribbon Music!! That's awesome, and a really smart thing of you to do because the songs are pretty good. Why didn't you release them in the first place? Sure, they don't feel as fleshed-out as the other things you've released on your proper full-lengths, but considering how intensely you labor over your music, it's really charming to hear your songs in their developing stages.

Oh man, how great would it be to hear one of these songs redone on the next album! I think that'd be sick; people like to see how artists grow over time, and it's this kind of shallow comparitive analysis that gives people the illusion that they're on the brink of understanding you. It could make your body of work more digestible to casual listeners and lazy writers. Maybe then more people would buy your albums because they'd think that they're one of the few that actually get it. But then again, who cares what they think?

I have a few quick personal questions. What's the story of the girl at Bennington? Do you still see her in your dreams? Also, how do you love her eyes so much without ever actually seeing them? Does she really exist? Does this relate to some philosophical concept that I'm unfamiliar with? Either way, she must've been super cute. I'd kind of be interested in seeing what she looks like, and then compare her to other girls I've been obsessed with. You should post a pic of her in the comments section. Think about it-- it might be really funny!

Gorilla Vs. Bear announced John Maus' upcoming compilation, A Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material, which is "a sixteen-song collection of music spanning eleven years of creative output" coming this July-- the first 500 of which will be on translucent pink vinyl (oh là là!!). While most Maus worshippers on Mausspace have already heard a chunk of these tracks, n00bs can take a listen to "Mental Breakdown" below.