Danny Short - Collected Times

May 2009
Invisiblegirl Records

1 Dee
2 On The Ceiling
3 Leaving The City
4 Asleep
5 Stranger In The Snow
6 Dream
7 To Be Different
8 People On The Hilltop
9 This Year Is Ours
10 An Idea
11 Just Before You Disappear
12 Truth Made A Man Of Me

The debut solo release from Horwich's (it's near Bolton) multi-instrumentalist and all round talented guy Danny Short. The ex Big Arm drummer has put together a history of his song writing demonstrating an eclectic mix of pure pop, post punk,para-prog and experimental.

All recorded at a home studio this album is a fantastic musical journey.

The opening "Dee" a piece of pure pop synthesizing the collective mores of UK pop into a bundle of pure fun with intelligent introspective lyrics. The following "On the ceiling" taken at a guttural key that Danny seems to struggle with initially but transforms into a gentle pop classic. Matters then turn into something rather special - the evocative "Leave the City" - reminds one of pre-prog classics seen on the first Genesis albums, or the long forgotten Gnidrolog (whose classic album "In spite of Harry's toenail" I must dig out and review). This is a superb piece of writing and playing where banjo's dance with hard core guitar into a maelstrom of Hugh Banton like organ runs redolent of the seminal "Aerosol Grey Machine" album - Lindisfarne meets Van Der Graaf Generator. Breath-taking.

"Asleep" a simple picked guitar leads into martial driven grandeur - a distillation of a range of inlfuences which gestates into something new - post prog meets post punk into a glorious celebration of noise. Sort of Porcupine Tree with attitude and without too much flummery. Similar picking leads to the elegiac "Strangers in the Snow" a haunting graceful tune built around a simple melody with flocks of alien noises floating overhead. This trilogy of wonder is completed by the achingly beautiful "Dream" - a song that leaves you wanting much more.

Matters get a tad "Fall" like and Danny gets his pub-rock head on with a riff sort of borrowed from "Mountain Energie" that morphs into a real good time number.....Julia should release this as a single and test the market - we need some decent music in the charts! Joyous.

The pastoral stuff returns with "People on the Hilltop" which has an early Barclay James Harvest feel - a beautiful tune with great production values. Danny chucks in some alien sounds which add value and this is a tempting little hors d'ouevre to the remaining four tracks on the album.

"This year is ours" descending arpeggios, lush vocals, shimmering chords, choirs of ethereal voices, slithering sounds - a fantastically structured song. "An Idea" a slovenly, slutty riff of a thing with enough repressed sexual tension to driven one of Fred Dibnah's steam engines. The nub of this, and the album as a whole is Danny's chord progressions which are always on the button and call to mind past classics without apeing them. "Just before you disappear" is simple picked guitar with whispered vocals - there is a real 60s feel to this, also a real 70s and 80s and 90s feel. This artist seems to be be able to capture the best of each decade and translate it into something modern. This chronotransduction is simple but extremely effective. Muttered sounds and echo chamber dub with quirky sounds finish the song.

Matters conclude with a throbbing, pulsing post techno number "Truth made a man of me" - Short is buried deep in a pulsating sound mix of clashing synthesis - the Reid Brothers without the guitars.

I am not sure that I will hear anything as eclectic, and the same time as so relevant and consistently well put together this year.