Let's take a moment to give a hand to Ben from Florida, the Burn This participant whose summer compilation found its way to my mailbox today.

The tracklisting:

1. Interpol - Say Hello To the Angels
2. Q and Not U - We Heart Our Hive
3. Rilo Kiley - The Frug (V note: My favorite Rilo Kiley song and one of my favorite songs overall. Ben had my delightful admiration at Track 3! Well done!)
4. Cake - Rock and Roll Lifestyle (V note: YES!)
5. Blur - Pork Life
6. Enon - Carbonation
7. Electric Six - Improper Dancing
8. Joy Division - She's Lost Control
9. Sicko - Ya Ya (live)
10. The Decemberists - The Legionnaire's Lament (V note: HUZZAH!)
11. Iron and Wine - Such Great Heights (V note: love this cover. Just love it.)
12. The Postal Service - Against All Odds (V note: Yes, the Phil Collins song. This is brilliant. I didn't even know it existed.)
13. They Might Be Giants - Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too (V note: Hahaha)
14. Blondie - Call Me (V note: Outstanding)
15. MC Paul Barman - Cock Mobster
16. MC Chris - Greek
17. Pulp - Common People

Ben of Florida has earned the gold star for the day. Yes, yes he has.

In other news, also musically related:

if you asked me back in february of 2000 if this would happen, i would have said absolutely not. yet here i am, looking at the dates for mayer's fall/winter tour. he's going to be headlining at the patriot arena on 11/29 (same venue as tori a few weeks earlier), and i had absolutely no desire whatsoever to see him perform live. (9.27.02)

funny to see pictures of rockstar mayer and laugh. shortly after this was taken, i bet he busted into his rap. pity - i was hoping to possibly see maroon 5 this summer. (4.12.04)

there's old mayer and there's new mayer. i love old mayer - the charming guy who philosophically discussed the creative essence of count chocula and chatted with me about our mutual love for david gray (and later played a bit of "babylon" for me during soundcheck). the guy who posed for a photo at paradise and said, "just say i started playing 'wanted dead or alive' and things got way out of hand."

new mayer is fine, i suppose, but i don't see what all the fuss is about. the overly polished "room for squares" didn't grab me (either version - aware or columbia), and i gave "heavier things" a chance. but i hated it. i probably wouldn't have found the one song i like on it, "wheel," had he not performed it at the spac show. when he performed that, i felt like i was watching old mayer. kind of.

so the two exist separately for me. but old mayer's taken on the role of someone you went to school with you might occasionally hear about every once in awhile. and you wonder how things are going with him, but that's about it. and this new mayer guy? never knew him, have no interest in starting now. (5.08.04)

The John Mayer Trio is scheduled to play Avalon on Oct. 11. And while I've made it clear that I have little desire to pay attention to New Mayer, I'm going to give New New Mayer a shot.