Line Noise

Smalltown Supersound is one of the world’s best record labels, capable of putting out exquisite space disco one day and extreme noise the next. In November the label releases Towards a Cosmic Music: Noise Minimalism, Norway, 1991-2001, a compilation that is a very special record for both Norwegian music and Smalltown Supersound itself. Label founder Joakim Haugland says in the notes that in many ways this compilation represents “the start of the label Smalltown Supersound”.Ben Cardew spoke to Joakim about the new compilation, about Norwegian noise in general, the crossover with Biosphere, black metal and Sonic Youth; about putting on experimental guitar gigs in small-town Norway, Joakim’s label inspirations and much more.Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

Ben Cardew spoke to the sparkling Danish / Dutch duo Miaw, one of the best new bands around, ahead of their forthcoming tour of Portugal and Spain. They spoke about writing the worst song in the world, Walmart as a symbol of love, happy accidents, playing Roskilde and more. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

miaw play Porto on November 13, Lisbon on November 14, Ourense on November 15, Madrid on November 17 and Barcelona on November 18.

Who loves Boards of Canada? We ALL love Boards of Canada. Or at least, I hope we do. And for all us fans, Disco Pogo will, in November 2026, release A Disco Pogo Tribute To Boards of Canada, a new 276-page book, produced with the blessing of the band (and even some fact checking). Ben Cardew - who wrote a couple of the book’s chapters - spoke to Jim Butler, the book’s editor, about the eternal appeal of Boards of Canada, balancing fact and legend, the power of memory, what exactly is in the book and lots more. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

Jersey Club queen UNIIQU3 returned to Line Noise (in the company of DJ the dog) to celebrate the forthcoming release of her debut album Mass Appeal. We talked about supporting Beyoncé, Jersey Club going global, airports, having mass appeal, world building, bass line, bangers and more, in a very charming, in-depth interview. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

Ben Cardew spoke to the very charming Samantha Poulter, AKA Logic1000, about Confirmation - her new album but also a lot more - about crises of confidence, family, learning and un-learning, the relationship between parenthood and dance music and more. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra. Photo by Kasia Kim-Zacharko.

Ben Cardew and Johann Wald select the best electronic music on the Primavera Sound 2027 line up, from Pole to Polygonia. They start off with legends, exploring the legacy of Underworld and the Chemical Brothers; pass by local heroes Arca, John Talabot and DJ Fra; dig into the underground with Pole, Ibrahim Alfa Jr. and Marta Salogni and her Reel-to-Reel tapes; and end up with those one-off B2B (or B2B2B2B) DJ performances, pondering what it might all mean. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

On this bumper edition of Line Noise, Ben Cardew speaks to British dance music royalty, in the shape of Dave Angel, a producer who made his recorded debut in 1990 and who released a greatest hits, in the form of Classics, 30 years ago. They talked about all this, as well as being in prison during the Second Summer of Love, remixing the Eurythmics (and Dave Stewart being a very nice person), playing Megadogs in the 90s and signing to Island. But they also went right up to the present day and A Time and Place, Dave’s fantastic new album, which deserves to go down as a classic. Jazz, Crohns drums, melody, Monie Love and Apocalypse all come under the conversational hammer over a hour’s worth of in-depth, heartfelt conversation. Line Noise comes with the support of Cupra.

Ben Cardew spoke to Axel Boman about glaciers, exhaustion, hiking and house music, as they look forward to his excellent new album with Superpitcher, Tell It To The Mountain, the first to be released on his new label Blurry. There’s also talk of new music from Talaboman, his collaboration with Barcelona’s own John Talabot, and we wonder how the Swedes might be like the Spanish. (Answer: we’re not quite sure.)Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra. Picture by Jacobo Campos.

This week on Line Noise, we have a very special head to head featuring Mike Paradinas - aka µ-Ziq - and Frank Naughton - also aka µ-Ziq, in the early days. 

The interview is to celebrate the release of Tango N’Vectif (The Complete Sessions), a glorious re-edition of the debut µ-Ziq album, which was composed by both Paradinas and Naughton and released on Rephlex back in 1993. It’s their first joint interview in many years.

We talked about jazz funk, Blue Innocence, borrowing gear, their very oldest music, the best µ-Ziq album, Kingston upon Thames’ incredible electronic music scene in the early 90s, a little bit of Aphex and much much more. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

Johann Wald and Ben Cardew spoke to Argentinian sensation Juana Molina in 2020 ahead of her Barcelona gig. We spoke about live perfectionism, playing punk, rage, David Byrne's tupperware, sending music to space and much more. Line Nose comes to you with support of Cupra.