Something happened along the way when Bruce Cohen started working on his next project — the 2020 pandemic. With literally no place to go, his creative energy went into overdrive, and during his season of solitude he recorded thirty-three new tracks, choosing seven for the final line-up.
Cohen was drawn to the selected seven tracks because they’re all extended pieces, with the shortest being eight minutes and thirty-four seconds. He realized 7 BC would be the culmination of previous albums, One BC through Six BC, with each new song an extension, or inspiration, of a track from each of the earlier BC albums. Cohen also maintained his tradition of naming songs from his love of classic film, artists, and musicians who have inspired him throughout the years.
When his record label, Tarock Music, asked how he would describe the new music he said, “Bitches Brew meets New Order meets Public Images’ Metal Box.” Cohen knows it’s a stretch, but the album does have the feel of the music taking the listener to other worlds. He feels 7 BC is really about putting on headphones, closing your eyes and getting totally lost in the music.
The album opens with Where the Side Walk Ends, then into Frankie Machine that features an organ solo, something Cohen hasn’t done in a long time. There’s also a tribute track to one of the most influential bands, Crimson King Dub. And, Dali Dance doesn’t allow you to stop moving along with the music, while synths and organ surround the mayhem. While The Quiet Earth is a Cohen signature ambient track. The monster track on the album is Funkasaurus with almost nine minutes of raving, foot stomping, crazed music with sounds sweeping in every possible direction. The album closer, Florian, brings the listener back to earth with a percussive ambient coda for Florian Schneider, the late, great man of Kraftwerk.
7 BC is the apotheosis of what One BC to Six BC has led Cohen to create, it’s far more personal, esoteric, and avant-garde. So, now is the time to put on your headphones, close your eyes, and get lost in 7 BC, because you will quickly learn that getting lost has never felt so good.
∎ Tarock Music, 10/21/2021
