Is John Maus the millennia-bored voice of the almighty? He’s leant his hand to the work of Noah Lennox and Ariel Pink, but it remains hard to tell. On 'Bennington', an exclusive track pulled a while from the new Beater Blocker compilation ('Read On’ for details), stone-throat John looms as he has always done, somewhere above and beyond it all, a spectre trapped in a hidden zone. He's reaching out here though, succumbing to an earth-bound mortal whose "fucking eyes" he just won't forget, aiming a love song down from on high but tumbling in the process, below his beloved, elevating the girl to divine status and sucking the natural order of things inside out like a petty black hole. Claustrophobic swirls of synth-silk worry and toil to wrap and save the fall from grace, but it's too late so all they can even hope to do is swell, spread and brace and try to hurl him back to his pedestal, parachute-cum-catapult, a trampoline for a God limbs clumsy and in tears. How fucking absurd.

John Maus - Bennington

Find John Maus kicking around with the busy tastebuds at Upset! The Rhythm, who manned decks at the launch of heart-attacked Ed Godden's Beater Blocker charity compilation (alas we couldn't make it, proof exists that we were here).

Buy Beaterblocker from Phonica here for £7. For more on the comp plus an interview with Godden Read On... Ed Godden is 21 and lives in London. Last year he was out in Bristol, took too many drugs and had a heart attack. At 21. NPIP imagines that sucked – yeah, pretty much – but luckily for Ed the staff at Homerton Hospital were on hand to guide him away from death’s gaping rot of mouth and back onto the smiling streets of Hackney, where fried chicken bones fall from the sky and street corners are guarded like fires. Rejoice!

‘Cept there was a guilt that clung and couldn’t be shook. You can understand I suspect. Watch poor elderly unfortunates trolleyed off under blankets and you can x the usual dryout day guilt something exponential. So Ed did what any young buck with thanks to give would do and made a mixtape. Beaterblocker has 15 tracks from people like Vladislav Delay, Alex Smoke and Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian (as well as the John Maus track featured earlier) and it’s on sale now for £7 from all the best places - Rough Trade East, Pure Groove, Boomkat, Phonica et cetera. All the proceeds will go to the people who kept Godden breathing at Homerton Hospital. Find the full list of tracks after this short stretch of dialogue.

How’d it happen, Ed?

I was out in Bristol for a friend's birthday. A few of us got some cocaine in (a couple of friends thought it was primarily speed - but I've never taken that before). I wasn't crazily addicted to the stuff - more like a payday treat. As the night went on, I didn't feel too ace, but carried on taking it.

And then? Bad times, right?

I got lost – I just couldn't stop thinking how 'hilly' Bristol was and ended up at a random house party somewhere. Eventually I found a mate and asked if I could crash at his house. I couldn't sleep and my chest area felt like a screwed up crisp packet. I was lying down with my head in a pillow for hours still wired. I had no idea what a heart attack would feel like or whether the pain was being exaggerated by my state – I thought it could have just been heartburn so I put off going to see anyone about it. I didn't end up going into hospital until two days later.

I was always under the impression it was an instant, chest-clutching, rushed-to-hospital thing with heart attacks. How long did they keep you in for?

I was in the Homerton Hospital for just over a week, just resting up the majority of the time and having loads of ECG/blood pressure checks and quite a bit of morphine to start. I was very dazed the first few days. I had an angiogram (where they put a wire through your largest artery either via your groin or your wrist - thankfully my doctor chose the latter). This was to see if I had any serious problems, as my Dad had trouble with his heart in the past. Fortunately I was given the all clear but it hit home that at 21 I was incredibly unhealthy - drinking all the time, smoking, hardly ever eating dinner, no fruit and veg, very little exercise...

Sounds worryingly familiar…

I've changed my lifestyle big time, but I really don't want the whole thing to be some anti-drugs campaign. This sounds incredibly corny but... whilst I was going out having all this fun, there were so many wonderfully good natured people looking after really sick people and I just wanted to say as big a thank you as I thought I possibly could.

Was there anything or anyone in particular at Homerton Hospital that prompted the comp?

An old man was wheeled away in my first day of being on the ACU (Acute Cardiac Unit) ward and then another man the day after. All the doctors and nurses that work there, helping people for a living. They were really nice and calm. I don't do much to help anyone else ever, so I wanted to repay some gratitude - especially as my case was self-inflicted. I felt very guilty indeed.

How did you go about getting the artists involved?

I started by asking a few friends based in London and the South East to put tracks on. I then e-mailed Sasu Ripatti (Vladislav Delay) about a possible contribution and he was quite shocked to hear about it, as he'd had major problems with his heart that were drug related in his twenties. Once he gave the OK I contacted a lot of my other favourite musicians and everyone tried to help in any way they could. The whole project's been really fun.

Did you ask the artists involved to write around a theme at all, or did they just contribute whatever they had?

Yes. Some. Due to label agreements a few artists couldn't provide exclusive material, but allowed me to choose anything previously released so I aimed to make it as fitting as possible to the cause. A few of the musicians were on lengthy tours so they let me have one of their hidden gems! So maybe they’re not all related, but I’m just really chuffed with all the donations.

Any plans to continue Beater Blocker after the compilation's released?

A label, I think! The launch on Thursday was awesome. I definitely want to put out more records and put on more parties. I have material that was offered in recent months but the disc was full…

Various - Beaterblocker compilation
Rhodri Davies & Louisa Martin - Soldercup [edit]
Marissa Nadler - Diamond Heart
Marsen Jules - Yara Series 1
Alex Smoke - It’s A Carni Life
Dead Leaf Echo - Anti-Matter
Loren Dent -Winter During Wartime
Vladislav Delay - Raamat
Robert Babicz - If I had A Dream
Abdullah Flex - Tell Me
Ghosthype - Sufferah
Qwerty - Butterjam
John Maus - Bennington
Women & Children - The Wolfman’s Tick-Tock
Klimek Kingdoms - Here We Come
Deradoorian - Grey Teeth (of Dirty Projectors)