Tuesday, October 10, 2006

You're much too young to be settling down

I've written about Kalan Porter, winner of the second season of Canadian Idol, once before, and, though I wasn't hugely favorable about the songs of his I'd heard, I said that I thought he had some music that was much better than what I had heard. Recently, amazing site #1 Hits From Another Planet wrote about him--you should really go read Nick's post--and included a song I liked, which spurred me to finally find out whether my earlier guess about Kalan was right. As it turns out, his first album, 219 Days, is pretty good, and has some songs on it far better than the ones I posted a few months ago. The album is a nice mix of ballads and "harder" tracks, showing that Kalan can do both well and providing a varied listening experience. For the first album of an Idol winner (and, really, for any mainstream debut album), there's a surprising amount of different styles (including even some classical influences at times).

Lucky Day--this might be my favorite song on the album. In contrast to songs like "Single," it's very bright, sweet, and happy, though ballad-influenced. Everything about it, from the verses to the bridge to the chorus, works really well. The female backing vocals add to that sweetness, but it's really the song as a whole that is so great.

She's So Dangerous--a rockier track. Though I probably won't end up posting a lot of these today, there are a good deal of such songs on 219 Days; I don't want to leave you with a false impression of the album or Kalan's style. I like it (probably still more than "Single"), but it also makes me appreciate "Single," which I originally wrote off, even more (even if I still think the best version of "Single" must be the Original 3 remix, which I'd post if I had, but I can't find anywhere to buy it unless you live in Canada).

I Don't Wanna Miss You--another sweet song, this one more definitely a ballad. It's a little on the understated side, though that doesn't mean it's minimal. The fact that there are songs on the album that so sharply contrast with these ballads is welcome but also makes songs like "Lucky Day" and "I Don't Wanna Miss You" all the more precious.

How Many Roads--choosing one more song to post was difficult, as there's a decent consistency on 219 Days. I wanted something with at least a little more rock influence, but ultimately I ended up choosing this song, which does have some rock influence but is also another mid-tempo or ballad-influenced song (there really are other good types of songs on the album!). It's not necessarily a stand-out track or shockingly innovating, but there's something reassuring about it.

To buy Kalan Porter's debut album, 219 Days, go here (physical) or here (digital; you'll have to search for "Kalan Porter"). If you like some of these songs, it's definitely worth it.

Next up: maybe a MySpace check-in.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

My cousin got me this album a year ago but I haven't had the chance to listen to everything. I did liked his Idol single though "Awake In A Dream". Out of all the Canadian Idol winners, I liked Melissa O'neil's debut album the best.

Also, thank you for your comment about the layout =)

Poster Girl said...

It is a decent album, if you ever have time to listen to all of it...I've only heard a few of Melissa's songs, but I've liked them all! I also think it's quite sweet that she and Rex are (are they still together?) dating :)

Anonymous said...

I think he's cute, but his voice sometimes sounds put on with no real depth behind it.

Melissa has the same problem, but her songs are better.

Poster Girl said...

Interesting...that makes me think that maybe I should go watch some of his live performances for comparison purposes. And maybe look up some more of Melissa's songs, since both you and Jessica like them (even if not her voice) :) This is really bad, but I tend to not notice the deeper or more technical musical aspects of songs; hearing things like that pointed out is really interesting to me--it gives me things to look out for--so thanks!

Nick said...

Wow.. Kalan love all over the net it seems. Any word on a second album? He seems to be the type of artist to have a lot of potential for better things as he matures.

Anonymous said...

Kalan's working on his next album right now, which will probably be rather different since he actually has some say on this one (he's been writing most of it himself, co-writing the rest with some rather big names).

You should really check out videos of his live shows, because he really excells at the covers he did (Neil Young's Old Man is especially noteworthy), and his song choices really show off where his musical interests really lie, not to mention you can watch his violin playing in full action.

He's been keeping the fans updated on an "irregular" basis on his official and fan club message boards about his cd progress and his mother's battle with breast cancer. So far he hasn't begun the actual recording process, but it sounds like they're getting very very close. Keep an eye out! :)

Poster Girl said...

That was a far more complete answer than any I could have given--thanks, anonymous! :) I'll have to go watch those live performances, both to see what he's like as a live performer and to get some indication of where the next album will go--I'm pretty curious (as you said, Nick, he seems as if he might have a lot of potential).

Anonymous said...

Here's a link to the Original 3 Remix of Single. I like it better than the CD version too. More of an edge.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/RTRJRxlAz4M%3D

Enjoy!

Poster Girl said...

Oh, wow, thank you so, so much! I didn't think I would every get to hear it! I'm looking forward to listening to it :)

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. I have the 219 Days CD but I can't get the Single single (redundancy? lol) coz I don't live in Canada. Could someone pretty please repost the Original 3 remix, if it's not too much of a bother? The YSI link's expired. Thanks in advance.

Anonymous said...

Here's a new link for the Original 3 Remix:

http://download.yousendit.com/5855594B0805207A

This song is also on the Juno 2006 Compilation CD, if you can order that off of Amazon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks very much Anon =)