Neil Halstead and Mojave 3

ONE of the most undersung men in british rock music turns 39 today -- take a bow neil halstead!

halstead has made an unusual transition -- he first became known as leader of the shoegaze combo slowdive in the late 80s... they are sometimes compared to my bloody valentine and ride. that is a wonderful chapter in english rock, but to me he got better with his next band.

mojave 3 -- whose name was suggested by angeleno indie scholar wendy fonarow, a friend of the group and singer rachel goswell -- marked a huge step forward. here the group came up with the cornwall/english equivalent of america's alt-country movement, merging nick drake mystery with pedal-steel and a western-shirt aesthetic. several of their records are near-masterpieces, and their last, "puzzles like you," from 2006, is excellent even if it's a bit less gentle. (here is what may be my fave mo3 song, "some kinda angel"; here is the quieter "love songs on the radio.")

the most recent halstead-related release comes from his solo career -- the band is not exactly broken up but is on hiatus. that's "oh! mighty engine," maybe the mellowest thing he's done. as you can see here. it's rooted more firmly than ever in brit folk, with bert jansch as another point of departure. somehow in his music i often hear the breezy beauty of the southwest english landcape. anyway, keep up the good work, mate.

Photo credit: Brushfire Records

The Delicate Beauty of the Clientele

SOME days my favorite newish british band is the clientele, a group from england's beautiful south who create an eerie, lonely sound rooted in chiming guitars. they are as english as nick drake but also rooted in west coast light psychedelia of the 1960s -- arthur lee and love, the byrds, perhaps the beach boys or mamas and the papas. they have been over-compared to belle & sebastian because of some shared influences; i dont think the groups sound all that much alike.

HERE is the new album from the band, which merge records is streaming for now. it comes out today.

when i want stomping guitars and extroversion, i turn to british sea power, my other fave brit band that hasnt entirely broken in US. but the clientele create something hazy and introspective -- check out the title track, "bonfires on the heath." as someone who's spent a fair bit of time in england, their music makes me think of wandering alone on the gently rolling hills of the south downs, or through the greener-than-green hampstead heath itself.

they play joe's pub in new york on oct. 29. still remember their troubadour show in LA a few years back. (they had just added a hot cello or viola player with a great 60s bardot-inspired haircut as i recall.)

so far my favorite LP is "strange geometry," with the wonderful song "since k got over me." i also like their folk-rocky "reflections after jane." i dont love it when they pump their sound up or amp up the production to make it less intimate, so i wasnt crazy about "god save the clientele." still digging into the new one -- what do my readers think?