Artist of the Week: Kalle Mattson

A big congratulations to Ottawa artist Kalle Mattson for the release of his brand new EP, Avalanche, this week. On Aug 21, you'll be able to purchase this album, an explosive string of emotion bombs, jumpy piano and the unique voice of Mattson himself. The songs explore the landscape of pop-rock, pulling elements & inspiration from chart-topping hits as well as obscure indie rock. Next week Kalle leaves on a fall & winter tour that will bring him across Canada, the USA, and western Europe. Catch him in Vancouver at Guilt & Co on October 5. 

On top of a great album and expansive tour, Kalle Mattson has also attracted some attention when CBC Music made his newest music video into a game. Well, Mattson set that one up. The video for the title track "Avalanche" pays homage to a ton of famous album covers - see which ones you can spot and check what everyone else saw in the comments of the CBC Music post.

Gigs Of The Week: August 14 - 20, 2015

Every Friday 3am Revelations gives you our picks for some of the fantastic live shows happening in and around our city of Vancouver.
There's much more going on all the time, which you can check out in our concert calendar.
What are you seeing this week? Let us know in the comments below.

Kirk's Pick

Who? Tonye Aganaba and/or Twin Bandit
Where? Just outside of CBC Vancouver
When? Friday, August 14 and/or Tuesday, August 18
Why? CBC Musical Nooners have been running all summer long, and these are two of the upcoming ones I'm eager to check out. Hopefully you see this post with enough time to catch Tonye today at noon o'clock, and Twin Bandit is next Tuesday at, you guessed it, noon. 
 

Jessica's Pick

Who? Cayucas & Hibou
Where? Electric Owl
When? Thursday, August 20
Why? Both of these acts produce music that is mild, sweet, and perfectly summery. Plus, Cayucas had their gear stolen in Vancouver a few tours ago, so show them some love and buy lots of merch to support them and let them know this city loves tour bands. Also stream their new record Dancing in the Blue Lagoon at the beach, on the grass, on your couch, at work... no matter what you're dong, it will make your day better.
 

Christine's Pick

Who? Van Damsel w/ The Strain, Smash Boom Pow
Where? Biltmore Cabaret
When? Friday August 14 aka Tonight!
Why? Start your weekend right with Kamloops band Van Damsel, whose latest musical offerings are guaranteed to get you moving.

Keys To The Streets - Video #2 ft Melbourne Ska Orchestra "He's A Tripper"

For the second year Big Smoke has teamed up with Keys To The Streets to film musicians performing intimate concerts on the public pianos located throughout the city.

The second video was just released and showcases the Melbourne Ska Orchestra on the piano inside the Vancouver Folk Music Festival grounds!

To see where all the pianos are located, click here. To see the archive of all the performances from this year and last, click here.

Here's what Adam Sharp of Big Smoke has to say about this video:
This year, Keys To The Streets was able to arrange placing a piano placed inside the Vancouver Folk Music Festival for use by any and all attendees, and with so many incredible artists from around the world scheduled to perform, it seemed like a golden opportunity to film some unique and intimate performances.
On less than a week's notice we were able to arrange filming with a number of the festival’s artists in their brief moments of downtime, and were even fortunate enough to capture a few performances from musical members of the public that we caught tinkering away over the weekend.

The piano, which was beautifully decorated by Ola Volo, brought so many people together for impromptu sing-alongs and candid performances and served as a snapshot of how special this entire Keys To The Streets project can be. Thanks for helping to bring it back for a fourth year, Vancouver! First up from the Folk Fest section of this years Big Smoke x Keys To The Streets video series is the insanely talented, Melbourne Ska Orchestra , who brought a bigger band than I ever thought we’d be able to handle given our minimal recording equipment.