Kasper Bjørke

Kasper Bjørke is a prolific, highly respected DJ, producer, and manager from Copenhagen. Since beginning his career in the late ’90s, his music has constantly evolved, spanning dancefloor-oriented pop as well as headier space-disco odysseys and material more suited for home listening. He first rose to prominence as one-half of Filur, a successful disco-house duo who scored several international hits during the 2000s. He went solo with 2007′s In Gumbo, and continued releasing albums which incorporated influences such as post-punk, Krautrock, and electro, including 2012′s Fool, his highest-charting solo full-length. All the while, he kept busy remixing a wide range of artists including Moby, Laid Back, and Oh Land in addition to spinning at world-renowned clubs such as Berlin’s Watergate and London’s Fabric, and managing artists such as Trentemøller and Reptile Youth. In 2018, he departed entirely from pop and dance music with the release of The Fifty Eleven Project, a dark ambient/modern classical work credited to the Kasper Bjørke Quartet.
Kasper Bjørke founded Filur with fellow producer Tomas Barfod in 1999. Beginning with 2000′s Exciting Comfort, the duo released four albums of sleek, stylish disco-pop and downtempo funk, often featuring guest vocalists from throughout the Danish dance and pop scenes. Filur scored a handful of hits in Denmark, Italy, and Japan, including “I Want You” and “It’s Alright,” which both charted in 2001. While still active as part of Filur, Barfod co-founded the indie dance group WhoMadeWho in 2003, and Bjørke began releasing solo work in 2007. In Gumbo, a set of guitar-driven, danceable synth pop tunes, appeared that year. Following the Danish chart success of 2009 single “Young Again,” Bjørke released his second solo effort, Standing on Top of Utopia, in 2010. Filur’s final album, Faces, appeared in 2011, and Bjørke’s third solo album, Fool, followed in 2012. The album was divided into the vocal-driven “Hungry side” and the more cerebral, psychedelic “Foolish side,” and featured guest vocals by Laid Back and Jacob Bellens. Like Utopia and Faces, it reached the Top 40 of the Danish album chart.
Bjørke’s music moved into a darker direction with the shadowy, downcast electro-pop of 2014′s After Forever. This was followed by chilling electro-techno of 2016′s primarily instrumental Fountain of Youth. Following EPs with new wave-influenced artist Colder and techno producer Abstraxion, Bjørke debuted the Kasper Bjørke Quartet with The Fifty Eleven Project, a two-hour ambient/classical work released by Kompakt in 2018. In late 2019, he returned with Nothing Gold Can Stay, a highly collaborative album that stepped away from his ambient leanings for more of a rhythmic approach to electronic songcraft. ~ Paul Simpson