jessica lea mayfield With Blasphemy So Heartfelt
For a dose of ghosts of the open road, pop in Jessica Lea Mayfield. This haunting 19-year-old singer caught the ear of fellow Ohioan Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, so much so that he found her on MySpace, messaged her and eventually produced her debut, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt.
The album is set to sparse acoustic guitars, minimalist blues riffs and a woman’s resigned heartache.
The songs endear with enough clever wordplay and personality to avoid the potential of droning out in the slow-fi arrangements.

tim brantley Goldtop Heights
Georgia-native Tim Brantley debuts with an album brimming with wide-eyed xylophone-kissed rock, piano pounding and blue-eyed Philly soul.
Goldtop Heights is nostalgic, yet youthful, as the disc almost veers into slogan-chorus schlock mid-way through: “I’m just a simple man / I’m just a working man / in love.”
But then it finishes strong with “Damage,” an anthem equally ready-made for small-town cruising and stadium-crowd swaying.
Brantley’s piano-driven exuberance should carry him to even greater heights.

horse feathers House With No Home
The trio Horse Feathers paint a picture of a snowy farm field on their second effort, House With No Home.
Singer Justin Ringle adds vocal minimalism to the rustic banjos and cellos, as the combination exudes more elegance than twang.
In this troubled economy, it’s about doing more with less, and Horse Feathers reflects that on this haunting record.

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