Diane Coffee "With People"
With People is both new territory for Diane Coffee, as well as a full-circle return to their roots. Shaun Fleming’s fourth album is their most intimate and personal to date, a collection of diaristic ruminations and contemplative observations of the people in their life, yet also feel universal in impact. Combining the breezy wistfulness of classic folk-rock with orchestral pop’s broad sweep, With People marks an exciting new era for Diane Coffee, chronicling an artist’s revisitation of their upbringing as they look at the horizon for what’s ahead.
The follow-up to 2019’s exquisite Internet Arms, With People came about in the early stages of the pandemic as Fleming’s songwriting took an unexpectedly personal turn. They began zooming in on not only their own emotions and experiences, but the people that have impacted their life—whether over an extended period, or through smaller, short-term interactions—many of the songs centering on a specific moment or memory from their own history. “It was a way for me to see all these people I couldn’t see, and to be with them in a time where that was impossible, in the form of song,” Fleming explains. The transportive nature of this creative process grew to encompass their upbringing in the suburbs of Agoura Hills, California, to which Fleming returned before recording as a way to recapture the feelings of their past. “Since most of the songs are about people from my hometown, I decided to fly out a week early and drive all around my old stomping grounds,” they recollect. “My school, all my childhood homes, skate spots…I took lots of pictures and even printed a few of them up to hang in the studio to keep myself in the right headspace. I wanted to feel super close to these memories.”
William Basinski "“ . . . on reflection “"
Time and duration are core themes in the work of both William Basinski and Janek Schaefer, and this long-distance collaboration took a suitably long gestation of eight years from start to finish. In that time, our collective perception of time has at times become disorienting. “ . . . on reflection ” remodels that instability as an exquisite work of art – one that is unmoored by time or space.
Limitation breeds creativity, revealed as an expression of minimalism and close focus. Deploying a delicate piano passage from their collective archive, Basinski and Schaefer weave and reweave in numerous ways, forging an iridescent flurry of flickering melodies. The sounds of various birds heard from late night windows on tour can occasionally be heard throughout, ricocheting off mirrored facades, reflecting on themselves as they continually reshape their own environments with song.
“ . . . on reflection ” looks backwards, a bustling revelry of positive emotions heard through the aging mirrors of memory. It is a celebratory meditation where sound shimmers through time like the light of the sea’s waves glistening as it folds and unfolds upon itself.
Sulene "In The Style of David Lynch"
Buzz Music: What kind of listening experience should we expect on your upcoming EP, ‘In The Style of David Lynch?’
Sulene: More intense riffs, in-your-face lyrics, some experimental stuff. A burst of energy.
Buzz Music: We have to ask — what’s your favorite David Lynch film?
Sulene: Lost Highway. And now I’ve given something away about the music video, haha.
Buzz Music: We’re so excited to hear the full album. How excited are you for the world to hear it?
Sulene: I can’t wait! It was such a labor of love, and it’s really, really special to me. Honestly, I’m just grateful anyone listens to my music. It’s really cool.
– Buzz Music, “Sulene Revs The Senses In A New Music Video For, ‘Electrosexual'”
Tim Kasher "Middling Age"
Middling Age is the new album from indie rocker Tim Kasher, also known as the front man for Cursive and the Good Life. On his anticipated follow up to No Resolution, Kasher dives head on into the painful realities and struggles of navigating life as the years climb. Featured artists on the album include; Laure Jane Grace (Against Me!), Jeff Rosenstock, Jayson Gerycz (Cloud Nothings) and Macy Taylor (Bright Eyes, The Mystic Valley Band).