Search - Neil Halstead :: Oh Mighty Engine (Dig)

Neil's mellow mood

Lou Silva | 08/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Very strong release from Neil and surely one that will continue to grow on you with repeated listens. After having the cd for a few days, the best way to describe it is that it is very mellow with only 4 songs or so having drums. Neil plays mainly acoustic guitar and sings with a hush. The melodies are great and stay with you after listening. Not as much variety as Sleeping on Roads or any of the Mojave 3 records, but a very solid release. Great pedal steel on the title track, wish there was more."

Sunny

Peter J. Bruinsma | Grand Rapids MI | 09/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To continue Neil's drifting-along-slowly-on-a-sunny-day-watching-stuff style, this is another successful album. He's "Shoegaze" without being annoying which is tough to accomplish. Fans of "Mojave 3" will find Halstead's string of solo releases highly satisfying.

It is notable that Brushfire has picked up Halstead's new release, considering the company has made a series of recent contracts with a number of under-the-radar very talented male singer/songwriters. G. Love, Zach Gill, Mason Jennings and Matt Costa are four of the best, and it is interesting to see the label recognition of the common features of these artists. Among other benefits of Jack Johnsons new label mates, these musicians probably wont hurt his image to be associated (with the exception of G. Love) with lesser-known artists with (including G) a hip appeal."

Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine

T. Snyder | AZ | 09/27/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is my first exposure to Neil Halstead. I listened to a few clips and thought, "Hey, if it's on Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records label, it has to be awesome, right?" Well, if you're expecting it to sound like Jack Johnson 2.0 and be really surfer-chillout-music, it is not. But that's ok, because it's still quite good.



"Oh! Mighty Engine" is more folk-y, singer/songwriter-y than I expected. The album is very acoustic and basic in terms of instruments. Halstead has a pleasant-sounding voice. If you like Mason Jennings (he's great), this is probably right up your alley.



Overall I found "Oh! Mighty Engine" very relaxing and calming - maybe a little too slow if I'm going to pick on anything. I think this might also be one of those albums that really grows on you with repeated listening, as you pick up the subtleties of each song. Also, I thought to myself that this album will probably still sound good 10 or 20 years from now, which is always a good sign. Timeless good music."