Neil Halstead

Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician born in Reading, Berkshire, England. He's been hailed by AllMusic as “one of Britain’s most respected songwriters,” and Timeout magazine as “one of Britain's greatest songwriters”. Neil Halstead has earned an ardent following by making intensely atmospheric music with a near-hypnotic power. The singer/guitarist served as frontman and primary songwriter for Slowdive (the legendary shoegaze outfit whose seminal studio albums include 1993’s Souvlaki, (co-produced by Brian Eno). After its 1995 breakup, Slowdive morphed into the Halstead-helmed Mojave 3 and released a string of highly celebrated records that merged jangly alt-country with dusky psychedelic dream-pop. In 2006 Mojave 3 went on indefinite hiatus, prompting Halstead to embark on an acoustic-driven solo career marked by an emphasis on British-folk-inspired melody and a love of surfing . An occasional drift into more whimsical territory prompted NME to rave ‘like Syd Barrett if he’d ever set foot on a surf board’. Halstead's first solo album Sleeping on Roads was followed by 2008’s Oh! Mighty Engine, released on friend and fellow surfer Jack Johnson‘s ''Brushfire'' label. Halstead's latest album Palindrome Hunches was released in 2012 and was labelled as “An exquisite set of dark folk music” from The Times as well as being well acclaimed by God is in the TV , "Undoubtedly one of the finest British records released this year”

Halstead

Coordinates: 51°56′42″N 0°38′28″E / 51.9451°N 0.6411°E / 51.9451; 0.6411

Halstead is a town and civil parish located in Braintree District of Essex in England. It has a population of 11,906.

The town is near Colchester and Sudbury, in the Colne Valley. The town originally developed on the hill to the north of the river. The name Halstead is said to have derived from the Old English hald (refuge, shelter, healthy) and stede (site, place or farm), meaning 'healthy farm' 'safe place' or 'place of refuge'.

Area

The wide High Street is dominated by the 14th-century church of St Andrew, which was extensively renovated during the Victorian period but retains much earlier decoration including tomb monuments dating from the 14th century and earlier.

The historic core of Halstead can be observed on a walk up the market hill. A river walk runs through the town from east to west, and just outside the town is Broaks Wood, a popular area for walking owned by the Forestry Commission. Halstead Public Gardens were established in 1900 and is noted for its floral displays. The Townsford Mill that spans the river at the bottom of the town houses the Antiques Centre, with thousands of interesting pieces ranging from clothing to household items. Halstead has a library situated in a large open-plan building that was built as the Corn Exchange (1864-1866) but has also housed a technical school.