TAROCK MUSIC

Recalling the halcyon days of early Warp Records, Bruce Cohen’s album Three BC is an incredible journey.  Possessing a keen ear for melody the textures shimmer and shine.  At times nearly psychedelic with his deeply physical yet emotionally affecting songs, these are sounds to get completely lost in, for the multiple layers and speed is astounding.

Blue Stomp the album opener wastes absolutely no time in getting started.  With a clever ebb and flow of sound the song is structured ideally revealing a keen sense of pacing.  Much more subdued in tone is the neon-hued synthesizer sweeps of Shoot First which at times is reminiscent of early Future Sound of London.  The bright melody of Dead On makes it a true highlight bouncy around iridescently.  Swirling around with a slight hint of shoegaze’s love of textures is the grandeur of Witches Brew.  A haunting melody helps to add to the depth of Witches Brew making it feel nostalgic at times.  By far the highlight and the heart of the album is the grandeur of Just Be Boom.  Here the sweeping melody and unstoppable rhythm give it a dreamy quality.  Riffing off of this theme works wonders and shows off Cohen’s impeccable taste.  An absolute beast of a track is the sheer physicality of This Is The One.  Opus Funkus ends the album on a high note.  Funk in tone, Opus Funkus has an almost geometric quality to it, constantly shifting and transforming into something new while adhering to the infectious beat.

On Three BC Bruce Cohen shows off an uncanny ability to merge elements of EDM and ambient resulting in a satisfying whole.

• Beach Sloth Blog, 2015

Bruce Cohen’s track Blue Stomp on his album, Three BC, is a polite, solid take on retro sci-fi vibes arranged into safe patterns of resilient trance fascinations.  The name of the game is chill, and no black holes worth inspecting are imminent this time, Miss Hawking.

Movement is sanely sacrificed for the establishment of mood.  A well sculpted, yet deliberately isolated sonic structure greets your senses both in the form of the intro, and in the form of the outro.  You are not organic, not machine, but something happened in between.  Optimal effect!  A cool experiment on display, that has nothing to do with the subject matter other than the act of courting it from both ways.  Then the track is quick to reveal its character as being assembled from individually thought out parts, and surprises of baffling character are deliberately absent from the mix.

The organic musical backdrop itself is bare-to the-bone enough to summon the classic tint of video game culture as it” was raging through the early ‘80’s and ‘90’s.  Did you ever type Final Signal and Moody Breeze into YouTube?  Those were, and still are fun themes, filled with a playfully soul-crushing sense of isolation and irrefutable doom, (trapped in open space comes to mind) moods akin to the one featured in Blue Stomp — read on to know more about it.

As hinted, the central melodic idea that ensues at the middle of the composition, invokes a retro sci-fi feel with enough charms in it to soak a pair of ears into it via two consecutive turnarounds.  Cohen’s creative conduct fortunately is experimentive enough to market the lead melody with a harmonious collision-pair on each repetition, plus a nice understanding of the operations of introspective retro sci-fi indeed is observable when the two lines are flirting with each other to the conclusion that you will be inevitably sucked into outer space, and you will have a terrible day indeed, but you still have time to make amends as a legitimate participant in the consciousness ecosystem.  Since the nature of the song is more of a chill-out character with a well established pulsation to it, the track ultimately arrives to its conclusion with the unchallengeable notion that the message was delivered through the more elegant simplicity on auditory display — and such is the case.

• Zoltan, Noise Shaft Blog, 2015

New music is here and this go around I’m listening to Bruce Cohen.  The first single, Blue Stomp, from his album Three BC, is an eclectic amalgamation of digital synths and a solid back beat of drums and bass.

Somewhere between the ethereal trance of Pink Floyd’s musical magic and the sounds of nature that surround us every day you will find the music of Bruce Cohen.  The rhythm keeps you moving and pulls you into the next moment in time.  The combination of man and machine have found a state of harmony that pleases the ear.  Cohen has found his center of peace and manifested it into a blend of sounds that sooth the soul and energize the heart.

I highly recommend that you listen to Bruce’s music on headphones.  The spacial movement of his compositions will transport you into another dimension of consciousness.  Just close your eyes and get swept away to a new land of imagination and wonder.

• David Hughes, New Music From Around The World Blog, 2015

The keyboardist and producer first made waves back in the late 70’s and 80’s with The Reds. The aggressive punk rock and new wave sound they produced fit the times well and garnered them a lot of attention and a signing with A&M Records.  As the years passed Bruce Cohen continued to make music and has a prolific solo career.  His first solo album in 2009, One BC, contains all atmospheric, ambient instrumentals in the tradition and style of Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel.  Cohen’s 2011 solo venture, Two BC, expands on his earlier ambient themes, yet are even more experimental and danceable.

The most recent record, Three BC, changes it up again.  The 12-track album focuses on the EDM and Trance genres.  Cohen attacked the genre different from most artists of today.  He leads with his natural instrument, the keyboard, as opposed to beat first technique made common by the DJ’s and producers nowadays.  The opening track Blue Stomp lets you know right away that this will be something different.  The atmosphere is built as noises come in slowly to build up the track.  The full atmospheric approach continues on Dead On with keyboard sounds creating a backdrop as the beat comes in to welcome everyone to the dance floor.  The eerie vibe throughout makes for interesting listening.  On the other side of the coin, songs like Witches Brew and Just Be Boom get the asses to the dance floor immediately with pounding drum and bass creating the energy, while the tweaking keyboards warp the sound through the song.  Experimentation comes in as well on Ask Later with odd sounds popping in and out forcing your mind to open wide and accept anything that can happen.  By the time you reach the closer Opus Funkus you will be completely spent with the exotic sounds and emotions created by this complete record.

Find yourself a solid hour and a half and immerse yourself in Three BC.  Listen to full tracks on CD Baby ► http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brucecohen12

∎ Indie Band Guru, 2015

Three BC is the third solo album by Bruce Cohen containing 12-tracks of amazingly rich EDM.  This album touches upon the emotional vibrations and will set any dance floor on fire.  The twelve tracks are each filled with fantastic instrumentation and sonic elements that will lift any crowd into a state of trance.  Let’s dig into this treasure track by track.

1 — Blue Stomp is the perfect beginning to a truly great EDM album.  It starts off with a pulsating riff then transforms into a tribal yet atmospheric stomp.

2 — Shoot First keeps the energy flowing with an airy synth pad to start it going.  The track builds up nicely with rhythmic elements and soundscapes.  Congas highlight the track adding a nice flare to it.

3 — Dead On lifts off with synth stabs and quirky electronic sounds then takes you a place that is truly spectacular.

4— Happy Dog echoes with epic old school sounds that build into a quirky yet interesting piece.

5— Witches Brew keeps the energy high and definitely contains elements that will make you want to play this one over and over.  It’s harmonies are distinctive and classically weave a mesmerizing track.

6 — Just Be Boom is another interesting track that features dissonance and powerful rhythm.

7— Or Is It takes you back in time and propels you into the future all at once.  Check this one out.  It’s got some nicely crafted elements in it.

8 — Shadow Dance pulsates with ecstasy and pumps you up into a trance.

9 — This is the One has dark sonic elements weaved into a powerful array of sound.

10 — Ask Later features syncopation and futuristic sonic elements that will build a nice aura of sonic bliss.

11 — Match Me Once keeps the energy high and will lift you up.

12— Opus Funkus is a perfect ending to a great album.  This one features syncopation and elements that are truly unique.

All in all this is a great album by Bruce Cohen and belongs in any serious audiophile’s collection.  We recommend it!

• Very Cool Tunes, 2013

BRUCE COHEN MAKES YOU MOVE TO THREE BC

Bruce Cohen is back with an EDM/electronica/trance experience and I promise this is something you don’t want to miss.  Welcome to Three BC – In A Trance.

If I wasn’t awake before, I am definitely awake now.  All 6 minutes and 52 seconds of the first track had me moving and hypnotically grooving around the room uncontrollably.  Then I noticed the dog looking at me funny.

Each of the 12 songs clock in at 5+ minutes so Bruce is launching us into a soundscape that can be enjoyed for quite a while.  Did I mention each track also launches you into fits of uncontrollable tribal movements?

Yeah, I’m sure that’s the “In A Trance” part of the album title in action.

This is far from Cohen’s first dance.  If you’re a fan of this type of music you might be familiar with Bruce’s work. Remember The Reds from back in the day on A&M?  They released an album called The Reds then opened up for acts like The Police, Blondie, The Ramones, and The Psychedelic Furs.  Following up with an EP titled Green With Envy, The Reds grew to international acclaim.  They left A&M and released two more albums independently further solidifying their presence on the international scene.

Universal re-released their first two A&M albums, The Reds, and Green With Envy, digitally in 2012.  If Universal has a piece of it, then you know it’s a substantial piece of sonic art.

Fast forward to present day and we can see Bruce continues creating sonic opuses that capture the ears and move the soul.

Three BC – In A Trance is more than a collection of 12 songs; it’s a journey through sound.  It’s a voyage through the creative mind of Bruce Cohen, with his rubbery bass, quirky scrapes and all its exploratory glory.

Cohen is a mad scientist arranging sonic algorithms into seamless, soul stimulating compositions.

• Joshua (J. Smo) Smotherman, Middle Tennessee Music, 2015