The ever prolific john mayer delivers 'the village sessions', a 6-song ep that retools favorites from his highly regarded 'continuum' album. With the exception of the ben harper track, the ep was recorded in one day at the village recorder in LA.If John Mayer has ants in his pants--and, given his many projects and the amount of music he releases in any given year, it appears that he does--his fans aren't complaining. Nor should they be. The Village Sessions, a six-song EP that retools favorites from Mayer's highly regarded Continuum disc, is mostly a way to feel further connected to him; the hurt comes through on "In Repair" both vocally and via expressive acoustic guitar work, making the Continuum version sound clipped by comparison, and the kicked-back version of "Good Love Is on the Way" (the one song here not from Continuum, but from Try!, a 2005 live disc) dispenses with angst in favor of a more liquid groove. Overall, it's a study in intimacy and focus--for Mayer, there seems to be a certain magic within the four walls of L.A.'s Village Recorder, where he laid down these tracks. Then again, maybe not: Prolific as he is, Mayer is no wand-waver. His reputation for musical pureness proceeds him, and The Village Sessions is one more testament to it. --Tammy La Gorce
