It's been a long time since anyone has heard from John Mayer, literally. The singer hasn't performed live since April 2011, he hasn't released an album since 2009, and he's even been missing from the gossip columns that would chronicle his every night on the town. (WireImage hasn't posted a photo of Mayer since June. June! Someone call a search party.) If it seems like Mayer is having a quiet 2011, it's because he's been forced to: The rocker, like Adele, has been struggling with throat inflammation for the past few months. Mayer's still able to type though, so he took to his Tumblr to let fans know what's up with his platinum-selling pipes.

"I wanted to give you an update on the granuloma just above my vocal cord. I had surgery this afternoon to remove it and am now on complete vocal rest for a month or more," Mayer wrote. "It's been a very long process in waiting to see if time was an alternative to surgery, but even given two weeks' voice rest (along with many other approaches),

The Rolling Stones' Some Girls reissue won't arrive until a month from now, but today brought the premiere of an unreleased track called "No Spare Parts." The song was initially, recorded during the same 1978 sessions that produced Some Girls, but this country-tinged song would have been out of place among the sleaze and glam of album tracks "Miss You" and "Beast of Burden." Inspired by a road trip from Los Angeles to San Antonio, "No Spare Parts" is a honky-tonk tune in the same vein as Stones cuts like "Dead Flowers" and "Dear Doctor." Listen below, via BBC Radio 2:

The track will be released as a single before the Some Girls reissue is released on November 21st. "No Spare Parts" isn't completely new to Stones diehards -- the song has been kicking around YouTube since 2008, and was circulated on bootlegs even before that - but the reissue marks the first time the track has been officially released by the band. Mick Jagger also recorded new vocals for this version, Reuters reports.

For music fans contributing to the rebirth of vinyl, the annual Record Store Day in April is like Christmas morning. Independent music stores around the globe offer up exclusive releases by rock's finest. It's great for business, but April is far away from December 25th, so to capitalize on the post-Thanksgiving spending spree, a second Record Store Day has been scheduled on the shopping holiday known as Black Friday, November 25th. Need a gift for the music lover in your life? RSD has revealed this year's slate of releases, and it features limited edition collectibles by artists ranging from the Beatles and Kings of Leon to Nirvana and Wilco.

It'd be easy to blow thousands on all the good stuff that's for sale, but these are tough economic times, so here are five essential, must-own exclusives that come with The Amp seal of approval:

• Pink Floyd - The Wall: 7" Vinyl Box Set
Hot on the heels of the Dark Side of the Moon reissue, Pink Floyd reissue all three of the Wall singles ("Run

How does The Colbert Report follow up an hour of Radiohead? With 10 minutes of Coldplay! With the band's new disc Mylo Xyloto arriving next week, Chris Martin and crew stopped by Stephen Colbert's show to discuss and play songs from the strangely titled album. The band has faced comparisons to Radiohead -- who visited the show last month -- ever since Coldplay released Parachutes back in 2000, and to his credit Martin has always been humble in his answers; during one Viva la Vida interview, Martin admitted he'd chop off his left hand if it meant writing an album like OK Computer. "We are not as good musically, but much more attractive," he said last night of his British counterparts.

Colbert also asked if Coldplay has a rivalry with U2, a group that should be watching their throne whenever Martin is around. "No, no. But my voice went up, so yeah," the singer replied. When asked which of the two stadium fillers would become "the global band of the future," Martin fired back, "The