Steve @ reallyrather
It's homespun and relatively unadorned. A little bit back porch, a little bit bar-room, a little bit arts club but a whole lot wonderful. Now that there's finally some proper heat in the days, Shelley Short's debut Oh' say little dogies, why? cools like the small antique fan that belonged to your grandmother. A kind of worn-in timelessness pervades this limited edition release (150)from boutique label KEEP Recordings, itself one of the year's most encouraging musical enterprises. Back in Feb this blog recommended KR release #2, the low key country-folk demos of Chad King's Love your engine; record #6 is even better.

Oh' say little dogies, why? was recorded (not 'produced', not 'mixed' just 'recorded') partly at the Type Foundry in Portland and Adam Selzer's Norfolk&Western gang join in on several of the 14 songs. They bring drums, bass and Wurlitzer into the spare acoustic mix but the unfussy immediacy and natural ambience is never lost. Uncomplicated folk-twang is mostly what's on offer, the musical equivalent of lollopin' wagons bobbling over stony terrain. Quite simple 'dum-ching' guitar, a.n.other instrument and lilting harmonized vocals - it's all you need with tunes as taking as these.
Not that you'd really claim it as especially inspired songwriting, it's just very, very appealingly rendered. Opener Who am I to fall takes your legs clean away, barroom charmer Carbon paper skys promptly pins you down and at least half a dozen more winners - Sugar falls, the amblin' Buy a fish (perfect with just a picked electric and twin vocal), Pullin', pullin', pullin' etc - subsequently pile in, pummelling you sweetly insensible by the end. And the end is Time oh' time where a young child's uncertain vocal accompaniment momentarily threatens to bring the wheels right off the charm wagon. But it's only a wobble and quickly resolves into possibly the most affecting tune of the lot.

Echoing the style and spirit of The Be Good Tanyas and Nina Nastasia, with a dash of Patsy Cline, at her first attempt Shelley Short gets so many things right (right down to the artwork). Now you know why you never quite got round to buying those Jolie Holland or Tres Chicas records, all the time you were really waiting for this...



RS @ Willamette Week Online
Even in a packed club, Shelley Short's music has the same warmth and intimacy of hearing her strum shy country-tinged songs at 4 am in a kitchen of a Mojave ranch house. Short's debut album, Oh' Say Little Dogies, Why?, is a collection of sand-and-sunstroke odes with the Southwest acting as a backdrop in the same way as Monument Valley vistas of classic westerns.



Jon @ Blue Mag
Portland, OR based singer/songwriter Shelley Short's "Oh' Say Little Dogies, Why?" is a full length worth warming your hands over. Shades of Iron & Wine, Cat Power, and the mid-70's heyday of Emmylou Harris fall on Short's warm, earnest voice and sparse, organic arrangements. Members of Norfolk & Western, the Decemberists & Harbor lend their talents to Short's casually rustic yet ambitious project. "Carbon Paper Skies" is a sunny shuffle of double tracked vocals and twangy melody laced with an undercurrent of piano and banjo. On "Trouble Takes A Long Time", Short sings "Did you know that I know / the words to an old old song?", neatly summing up the spirit and sentiment of her songcraft. In line with the current country-folk revival, much of "Oh' Say Little Dogies, Why?" sounds like it could have come off an old 78 of folk standards and frontier heartbreak. "It's Here it's There" is a classic lonesome road song wholly stripped down yet still reverberating ghost tones of absent pedal steel and plucked bass. Nowhere is Short's music more satisfying than on the sub two minute epic "Time Oh! Time" that closes the disc, complete with far-away echos and bled-in laughter at the end. "Time Oh! Time" sounds like it was recorded live with one overhead mic and friends crowding the tracking room, fitting for the vibe of the album. Like the afromentioned Sam Beam's homespun "The Creek Drank The Cradle", "Oh' Say Little Dogies, Why?" slowly unravels it's rusty charm over the course of 14 tracks on a string of strummed guitars and brushed snare drums.



Jeff @ Delusions of Adequacy
There's no doubt that the debut album by Portland, Oregon musician Shelley Short is a predominantly country album. The soft acoustic strumming, the hints of tambourine and lap steel here and there, the themes of love and loss: it all works out to personal, finely done country. But somehow - perhaps in Short's pretty voice or the effects she uses on her vocals - there's something more emotional, more modern, more unique that keeps this from being a typical country affair.

Now remember, there doesn't have to be an alt- before your country to appreciate it or for it to be modern. There's still a far cry between this kind of emotional, melodious country and folk and the radio-friendly country that's always rearing its ugly head. In fact, Short's unique vocal approach makes this very unique, and it stands out quite a bit from its contemporaries. Maybe that's why I like these songs so much: they're quiet and pretty and personal and different.

The best songs here, in my opinion, are those filled out with more instrumentation than just Short's guitar. "Carbon Paper Skys," with The Decemberists Rachel Blumberg on drums and Norfolk & Western's Adam Selzer on bass, is one of the best songs here, with just enough twang and some nice male backup vocals to fill it out. "Sugar Falls," with the same folks and some nice lap steel and whirlitzer, is the most playful song on the album, cute and light as Short sings "sweetie sweetie, salty salty day." The piano on "Trouble Takes a Long Time" is a nice touch, even if it's simple and light, and her voice doesn't sound any cuter than on the light "Imagine That."

By contrast, some of the more sparse songs here, which feature just Short's voice and acoustic guitar, feel more bare, more deeply personal, but also a bit dark, a bit moodier than one might expect. "Who Am I to Fall?" which starts the album, is a perfect example. On "Giving Someone Giving," Short's layered voice singing "my whole world's been turned around / since the day you came around," has a very plaintive, longing feel. "It's Here it's There" is especially poignant, while "Something Has Changed" feels deeply personal, telling a relationship story.

The first time I heard Short's voice with its echoey effects, I immediately thought of Tonya Donnelly, and maybe even Kristen Hersch. It's an odd comparison, for her style of music is nothing like those mid-90s chanteuses. But listen to her voice - especially on "Heavy Flowers" - and you might agree. It's very pretty, and it's very personable, and it makes the songs on her first album shine. But seek it out quick, because it's limited to only 150 copies.



Rabbit @ Shmat
It's sort of difficult to classify this music, though in my heart (and from the bio) I know that at its most accessible level it's some sort of blend of country-folk music. It's not as preternaturally dark as Edith Frost, nor as uptempo as Neko Case, not as poppy as Mary Lou Lord. Shelley Short's songs seem to hover at times between straightforward country inflections and an even more primal Americana sound that really gets under your skin in a good way.

This is perfect for listening to on soft summer nights while sitting on the porch with a fifth of Jack Daniels. No, you don't have to be drunk to appreciate it. Not by any stretch. But like Norfolk and Western (whose key member Adam Selzer played bass on several songs and also runs Type Foundry, where parts of Shelley's album was recorded) you get a certain sense of distance and even melancholy sadness from all the empty space within the songs. That sadness is there, but it ain't all bad. It just makes you think about things other than what reality TV show's on the boob tube. And thinking puts you in a meditative state of mind where you're apt to amble out onto the front steps and look at the sunset with a drink if there is one nearby (I mean the sunset, not the drink). So it goes.

The atmosphere is probably the most important element in these songs, and helps transport the album away from the rut that other more straightforward alt country acts dawdle in. For instance, "Even The Water" has a strange little clarinet submerged in the background. And "Pullin', Pullin', Pullin'" has drums that sound more like kettles and cans, and the whole song has an A.M. radio type of quality. The tinkling piano hovering far on the horizon on "Trouble Takes A Long Time" adds depth and character to an otherwise typical song. I don't ever doubt that these extra things are important. Even so, one of my favorites was the more straightforward folky picker "Giving Someone Giving" with it's simple approach and great harmonies. Really reminded of Edith Frost here. The beautiful vibrato electric guitar on songs like "Buy A Fish" sets up a pretty background for Shelley's personable twang. At times Shelley's singing voice is so innocently sweet and childlike (not childish) as to trick the listener into thinking that this is some 14 year old prairie girl singing her heart out. But thankfully, she's no Lee Ann Rimes. That much is quite clear from the subject material and the arrangements that she uses to great effect to complement her style. "Heavy Flowers" almost feels like a slow Neil Young song, especially that picking near the beginning and end. Some strange type of glasses or metal plates clinking in the background add even more atmosphere to this song. "Singing Brigade" is very Southwesternly minor in feel, at times nearing the hushed whispers of Calexico's stuff. And why not, since the CD is out on Arizona's finest limited edition label, Keep Recordings. Although, Shelley's actually from Portland, OR. Could have fooled me any day.



Sal Addays @ Foxy Digitalis
This strangely-titled CD begins with some ambient noise that I can’t identify: a dog barking? A rusty gate swinging? Both recall the desolation that is the main sentiment here, with production so sparse and dry it practically crumbles to dust in your ears. Short holds it together with subtle songs – a little too subtle on the first three, almost floating away. The elliptical “Even the Water” is almost entirely subsumed by an echoing, feedbacking (?) clarinet – a ghostly effect of considerable power, but a little too distracting. Short and her smartly written songs reassert themselves as the album goes on, though. “Pullin’ Pullin’ Pullin’” is a sweetly lilting shuffle, its lyrics betraying a bemused resignation that old Ernest Tubb would find familiar (“It’s the same old beautiful story, it’s a strange love that you carry for me”). Elsewhere, folk (“Sugar Falls”) and psychedelic (“Heavy Flowers”) influences creep in, with Short bending her sweet melodies and pliant harmonies slightly to fit her ever more plaintive moods. On “It’s Here It’s There” she explicitly cops from Leonard Cohen to underscore the melancholy, but there’s no need to do that when you can write your own songs of pained yearning, as Short does with “Trouble Takes a Long Time.” These dusty songs have lullaby tempos and countrypolitan chords, but they’re not here to limn the pleasures of easy living; they doubt and quake and pine.



Rob Moran @ Splendid
Great folk artists seem to revel in the masochistic feat of openly displaying their own vulnerabilities and delicate emotions to an audience. That's what Shelley Short has done with Oh, Say Little Dogies, Why?.

A lilting, country influence permeates the disc. Wailing lap-steels and skipping banjos are heard on several tracks (including the slyly-bouncy "Carbon Paper Skies" and the melodically meandering "Giving Someone Giving"), but it's Short's voice that most betrays her honky-tonk inspirations. Her singing is intoxicating. Largely Hatfield-esque in its alluring cuteness, it also evokes the lingering depth of Victoria Williams and Emmylou Harris -- it's irritating and sensuous at the same time. Like these artists, Short continually engages a restrained yodel, her voice in constant flux as it meanders across complex melodies.

The album's textured instrumentation perfectly complements Short's vocals, and indeed sometimes seems to echo them. "Giving Someone Giving"'s fluctuating lap-steel accents match Short's meandering performance, but the lap steel is differentiated by it unnatural, digitally-manipulated tone. You'll notice these elements throughout the disc, adding dense texture through minimalist dynamics: "Even The Water"'s waltzing clarinet, "Pullin', Pullin', Pullin'"'s crackling lo-fidelity, "Trouble Takes a Long Time"'s plonking atonal piano and "Time Oh Time"'s children harmonies. All of them perfectly match the album's mood, lackadaisically lingering and then fading in restraint.

This aura of genuineness is Oh, Say Little Dogies, Why's greatest strength, and helps to make it truly memorable. Everything is subtle and unforced, simply begging for repeated listens. When Short whispers lines like "The telephone is dead / won't you stop this ringing in my head", or "The sugar falls on the salt / they both look the same" ("Sugar Falls"), or even "What's it like to be a winner / I asked you over dinner" ("Buy A Fish"), they don't seem like dramatic indulgence, even though they clearly could be. You simply believe every word that she says, and you empathize. The instrumentation, similarly relaxed and natural, is a perfect finishing touch. Oh, Say Little Dogies, Why? is an impressive achievement for Short -- it's resonant without being indulgent and overbearing. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it's clearly one of the best singer/songwriter albums of the year.



Lucas Walker @ Left Off The Dial
A sweet voice can be dangerous. Both critics and listeners may make the mistake of taking a wispy vocal track less seriously than the gritty sound of a diesel-powered singer. But a delicate voice can also speak to a part of one’s heart untouched by gutsy soul. Shelley Short is poised to join the ranks of sweet-voiced lullaby ladies that I favor for candlelight and a cup of tea. She just needs a little time.

Ms. Short sings in the fine tradition of fairy voices like Karen Paris of Innocence Mission, though her voice is a bit rough at the edges, more from lack of training and practice than quality. Oh, Say Little Dogies, Why? is a fine effort at atmospheric folk, replete with the unpolished sound and occasional cavernous echoes of a live session. That lack of pretension can occasionally seem more like amateur’s work than a focus on purity. Recorded in Portland, Oregon and Questa, New Mexico, this album is almost unusually divided in quality between the two locations. The Portland-recorded tracks are all of lesser quality, with more falsetto and discordance. Although some of these songs miss the mark, the larger portion demonstrate Ms. Short’s intended goal – sweet folk with comfortable, bittersweet lyrics.

“Who Am I to Fall” opens with a melody reminiscent of a Christmas hymn and perfectly aligned backing vocals. “Carbon Paper Skies” strikes an off-note in the same area, however, the backing vocals of Larry Yes seem out of touch with mood and slightly grating against Ms. Short’s delicacy. On “Time Oh Time”, a preschool-age girl backs Ms. Short, and though this is appealing in a cute sense, it does not make for a pleasant listening experience. Sweet music is most usually dismissed for purveying ‘cute’ sounds.

One of the stronger tracks on the album is “Giving Someone Giving,” which reaches beyond the sweet to the beautiful – Shelley Short’s voice sounds more invested in her lyrical message, thrumming the line “Who’s gonna be there when I fall?” with something like a desire for a real answer. “Even The Water” has a particular grotto-like feel, and makes one wonder just what the recording space looked like; it also has an unearthly clarinet, which can be a difficult instrument to handle; here, it is used to beautiful, spacey effect. “Pullin’, Pullin’, Pullin” and “It’s Here, It’s There” round out the best tracks, and indicate the direction Ms. Short should pursue to improve her sound.

Shelley Short has chosen to walk the fine line between smooth, honeyed tones and the danger of lurching into a sugary, piercing falsetto. In general, she does well, but she needs more time to cultivate her lower register. She also needs better backing vocals, or to stick to the purity of her one voice against the guitar, lap steel, and banjo she employs. Given more live exposure and some time to grow as an artist, Shelley Short may soon be turning out albums that are perfectly suited to the sweet times of life.



JP @ CrookedCamera.net
Shelley Short sings shimmering, alterna-folk/country. This record’s title perplexed me at first, but shortly after hearing the first track, I was down for the ride. Piano, acoustic and slide guitars, simple, loose-snared drumming, and male backing vocals on some tracks, make this record keen for quiet moods - preferably a melancholy feeling, or an activity that requires some intense listening. Its somber melodic presence seemed a bit too eerie for the overall length of the record, and the songs can drag at times, some with no real chorus or attempt at any hook. If not braced, it can make for a busy skip button finger. This isn’t to say it doesn’t have its redeeming tracks. Tracks like “Giving Someone Giving” are so beautifully executed and so delicately attuned that they could almost fall apart at any second. It brings to mind tear-forming childhood memories of standing in a summer field and watching the wind play with the sheets of long grass, and gently blowing the dandelion spores about. She dabbles in sparseness, somber, and calming, and does it well. This is the kind of record that you hear a track off of in a film and go “goddamn that was a good song,” only to never see or figure out who wrote/sings it. One could arguably say that this is a perfect record for film, which isn’t a bad thing, just secular. Overall, “Oh Say Little Dogies, Why?” is a somber, delicate, and well-crafted release, if you’re in the mood for it.