Weekly Playlist #8: BLEU, Parks, Blase, Mic Raygun
We’re riding reckless on the high seas of Boston pop, stretching our line out west to Los Angeles and reeling in a familiar fish. Former B.O.S.T.O.N.I.A.N. BLEU returns to his adopted hometown Saturday night at Great Scott, wrapping up an East Coast tour with Air Traffic Controller -- who will be live in the WFNX studio on Friday for Boston Accents. It's been a good 2012 for the songwriter, who penned a tracks for ABC's Happy Endings, worked with Tristan Prettyman, Chris Mann, and Meat Loaf, and closes out the year with a major label cut with Epic Records' Melanie Amaro, last year's winner of X-Factor. BLEU also produced this year's Air Traffic Controller record, and in 2013 will present at the Macworld/iWorld Conference in San Francisco and release To Hell With You, his fifth studio record, expected to drop in the spring. His Pledge campaign for the new album is still active.
Meanwhile, former Oranjuly pilot Brian E. King resurfaces with a new project further perfecting the art of jangle-pop in PARKS, which hits T.T. The Bear's Place in Cambridge Friday night with Dear Leader and the New Highway Hymnal. We then dip into the pool of electronics with the mysterious BLASÉ, a scene veteran operating anonymously on the solo tip, and close out with the electro-pop bounce of MIC RAYGUN.
:: Download the entire mix via the Phoenix Soundcloud ::
> Bleu “All Downhill from Here” [11.17 @ Great Scott]
> Parks “Sweater Weather” [11.16 @ T.T. The Bear’s]
> Blasé “Mouths”
> Mic Raygun “Try Me”