Veteran Danish DJ Kenneth Bager might be better known to most as the legendary Dr Baker, who hooked up with the world’s foremost players to plant his country in the midst of the post-acid house European dancefloor revolution, starting with his monster tune ‘KAOS’. He started his Music For Dreams label in 2001 with a classic compilation and now continues with a startlingly different album which is out to detonate musical barriers by surfing strains including electronica, ambient, jazz, 60s film soundtracks and pop in a floaty, dreamlike fashion. It’s an epic journey with many highlights and guests, including virtuoso jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and, most excitingly, NYC chanteuse Julee Cruise, the nightclub singer in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and much more. Her gorgeously inimitable tones appear on the string-drenched pop of ‘Fragment Two – The First Picture’, tells an emotional story of domestic violence on ‘The Day After Yesterday’ and duets with Canadian singer Syd Matters on Tim Hardin’s ‘It Will Never Happen Again’. ‘Love Won’t Leave Me Alone’ features Ponty over a stuttering electro groove. First single, ‘Fragment One [And I Keep Hearing]’ is a jaunty whistle-fest which trots along as a perfect soundtrack for its soft-porn video. It’s the sort of album which bears several immersions and hits many emotions. Happening bloke.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
