TAROCK MUSIC

Florida based “Bruce Cohen” releases “Funkasaurus”

This track takes inspiration from a true variety of musical styles and genres, from ambience-electronic, trance and others.  At nearly 9 minutes long, you’d expect the listener to eventually lose interest at some point, however, this couldn’t be any further from the truth.

It constantly keeps the listener engaged and immersed by the means of continuously evolving and twisting in ways you won’t have originally expected.  It’s suspenseful and cinematic.  Its impossible to put a finger on one genre, this allows the track to burst with originality and creativity, also with a touch of experimentalism, making the listening experience all the more unique.

The production of the track is truly first class, each element radiates around the soundscape individually, all are integral roles in creating the final track.

Towards the end of the track it begins to unfold and it fulfills you with it’s a upbeat and action packed nature.

• IndieX Music Blog, United Kingdom, 10/25/21

Bruce Cohen is very musically gifted and versatile artist.  In addition to his own music Cohen is also known for his compositions for musical productions. He made contributions to the score for  Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,  Down The Road , which was performed at the  Walnut Theater (Philadelphia). There are also The Speckled Band and  Vampire Lesbians Of Sodom.  This work also includes his musical contribution to the forty-minute film noir piece, Goodbye Johnny Staccato.

But also the purely musical outputs of  Cohen are characterized by the ultimate in versatility.  Despite his affinity for rock music, the man loves to experiment with electronic minimalism, as we know it from Germany.  One of his projects called Big Fun 3 , which he founded together with guitarist Rik Myers, and drummer  Brandon Cruz, is a Hammond jazz trio strongly influenced by psychedelics is under contractwith Ropeadope Records.  His solo album,  One BC, was released in 2009 and was initially shaped by the atmospheric landscape and sound structures of the ambient.  Two BC (2011) extends the earlier ambient sounds to a more danceable jargon.  The album ranges from ambient soundscapes to metal space funk.  Three BC is packed with EDM and trance influences, and Four BC goes back to the roots of the purely ambient-heavy productions.  With the published 2017 single, Big Buy Returns, has Bruce Cohen that of Herbie Hancock established 70’s funk groove sound combined with the ambient textures.  While he continues to show his very creative side on subsequent releases and introduced style variations.

His latest opus is titled 7 BC  and what Bruce Cohen delivers here is reminiscent of such great pioneers of electronic music as Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield or Jean Michelle Jarre in terms of the creative sound tinkering and the general habitus. The introduction to the opener Where The Sidewalks Ends is particularly reminiscent of the sound that  Kraftwerk presented in the 1970s.  Rhythmic lead synthesizers from Moog and a fat bass adorn the first moments of this track, which a short time later is accompanied by danceable rhythms and a powerful drum beat.  Cohen lets off an acoustic spectacle of electronic music here, which is smooth in its arrangement and is perfect here to switch off.  The ambient influences are omnipresent on 7 BC and so a separate musical world is presented with a proper sound variation.   Bruce Cohen also sets somber accents and delivers with Frankie Machine right at the beginning an ethnic drumbeat in breakbeat jargon and moderate tempo, at which he continues to prove himself to be a master of sound design and presents a dark to surreal spectacle, which the compositional genius also includes the correspondingly versatile sound.  Alienated organ sounds are the basic essence of the musical performance.  Crimson King Dub delivers exactly what the title suggests!  An electronic beacon with powerful dub effects, consisting of fat basses, dreamy synthesizer spheres and a pleasant experience that sets the scene for the work and activities of a creative head who, with his compositions, takes the listener into his musical realm.  The arrangement of the songs are a bit lengthy, but as it should be obvious to everyone, this also has its sense and purpose.  Progressive and then well structured, the sound that Bruce Cohen presents on 7 BC  comes from the speakers with a strong ambient component, of course.

With its futuristic and spaced-out sound design, The Quiet Earth, actually makes the consumer feel as if they are in space, where one observes the quiet earth as it is peacefully in the infinite expanse of space.  Bruce Cohen also goes a very dignified way and pulls out all the stops when it comes to sound design of the ambient.  Cohen creates music that you should let it sink in.  Fast pace is not the motto of this artist, rather he goes there and presents his songs in a correspondingly adventurous jargon, as a kind of acoustic odyssey.  Dali Dance is danceable and with a powerful groove from the boxes, which, as already indicated, impresses with its danceable rhythm, but does not leave the usual, almost psychedelic keyboard parts, although these naturally have the usual attracted sound and come out of the boxes mystically, whereas in the course of the arrangement they make their way through the song draw.  Funkasaurus is danceable as hell and comes with a really full bass synth as well as a decent drum sound from the speakers, which is perfect for the dance club.  Dark raw synthesizers adorn the arrangement of the title, which is built up fluently and merges into one another.  Strongly influenced by trance, this title once again shows a facet of the sound tinkerer genius of  Bruce Cohen.  The beautiful lead synthesizers give the song a nice shine.

For the grand finale, Florian enters the final sprint, where Cohen presents his usual electronic DNA and expresses himself in an arrangement of luminous timbres and surreal sound aesthetics.  The surreal synthesizer soundscape combined with the driving bass and a sound design, which is typical for Bruce Cohen, represents the worthy conclusion of his new album, 7 BC , which has a fantastic sound character and spoils the listener with a fantastic sound design.

Conclusion 9 out of 10: Electronic avant-garde music with ambient sounds! Lovers of the genre should definitely give this a listen.

Philipp Gottfried, eXcess Magazine, Loerrach, Germany, 10/30/21

(Translated from the original German review.)

Bruce Cohen, a founding member of The Reds, has just released his seventh solo album, 7 BC. Track 6, Funkasaurus, is the brand new single that is a beautifully composed electronic track.

Funkasaurus starts with a catchy beat that builds a unique vibe. The song gives listeners almost 9 minutes of enjoyment because of the whole mood of the track. Even though this track is long, it’s not boring because of the interesting arrangement, which makes this track an example of good modern electronic music.

To sum up, Funkasaurus is an amazing track that will stay on repeat for a long time.

• Sparkling Sound, St. Petersburg, Russia, 11/11/21

A CONTRITE APOTHEOSIS OF WHAT LED THE VETERAN MUSICIAN BRUCE COHEN TO CREATE, THE LEAD TRACK FUNKASAURUS IS THE INTERNAL PINNACLE TAKEN FROM HIS RECENT ALBUM 7 BC.

BRUCE COHEN CONTINUES TO CHANNEL HIS EFFORTS INTO EXPERIMENTING WITH GERMAN ELECTRONIC MINIMALISM, FRESCOING ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDSCAPES, WEAVING AMBIENT TEXTURES, SUMMONING A SWALLOWING SONIC EDDY.

∎ SECLUDED, ESOTERIC, AVANT-GARDE — The latest work of the long-time artist Bruce Cohen is generated by the channeling of his creative energy shifted into a sort of coercive overload.

And to condense with sartorial skill all the sense of his entire season of solitude, Bruce sews a lead track that fits well under the belly of his recent album titled 7 BC.

The vector that functions as the cardinal axis of a whirlpool that takes you and never lets you go is the Funkasaurus track.  A cosmodromic coinage, which if on the one hand, it seems to want to suffocate you; on the other, it makes you smell from the beginning that there is more at the end of the engulfing funnel.

The avant-garde fil de rouge here is as subtle as palpable, albeit an advocate for the nicely ambient aesthetic livery.  And this could lead us to spend rivers of words on Cohen’s brush, who with shrewd musicality reiterates the obsessiveness of almost 9 pulsing minutes, but without ever boring.

Then here we find the precious clue.  The esoteric perspective that Bruce promises us — something to be hidden at the end of the tunnel — is far more precious than the promise of a mocking Chimera, who assures us that we will find yet another pot filled with fool’s gold at the end of the rainbow.

Gabriele Filippi, Nova Music Blog, Italy, November 2021

The one and only Bruce Cohen s back with another unworldly project: 7 BC.

We discovered Bruce Cohen thanks to Six BC, an opus that caught our full attention.  Today, we are glad to share his outstanding 7 BC.

The mesmeric and futuristic seven tracks journey combines electro music with experimental sounds that plunge the audience into another world.  Only a few artists are capable of bringing new recipes to the table, and Bruce Cohen proves once again that he is one of them. 

Sonically, 7 BC is a new planet to explore and re-explore, and that will bring you to limitless imagination.

The Further, France, 11/16/2021

Featured: Bruce Cohen’s new album ‘7 BC’Jukebox

Mind is today reviewing the new album by artist Bruce Cohen. It is titled 7 BC and is a stunning musical extravaganza. The album comprises tracks titled Where the Sidewalk Ends, Crimson King Dub, The Quiet Earth, Dali Dance and many more riveting soundscapes. Where the Sidewalk Ends is a mesmerizing track with exquisite sound patches and an impeccable arrangement. The build-up is quite invigorating too. Whereas Crimson King Dub takes us on a futuristic space journey right from the start! The beats are enthralling and the synth sounds totally blew our minds. Lastly, Dali Dance as the name suggests is an incredible unconventional track with an alluring composition.

Overall, 7 BC has an experimental vibe ingrained in it. The splendid synths, astonishing arrangements (Florian – the 7th track from the album attests to this claim of ours!), and funky instrumentation stupefied us. Bruce Cohen has done a marvelous job with each track arranged in such a way so as to create a cohesive story through music. When compared to Six BC, Bruce Cohen does embark on a unique journey of experimentation in 7 BC and truly achieves an unbelievable avant-garde sound.

Ethan G., Jukebox Mind, 11/25/21