Line Noise

Ben Cardew welcomes his old Line Noise cohort, Pitchfork contributing editor Philip Sherburne, to look back on the first day of Sónar 2023 and look forward to what is to come at the Barcelona festival, including personal recommendations. Philip also talks about the Balmat label he runs with Albert Salinas and his Futurism Restated newsletter.

Ben Cardew interviewed Chicago's finest, Jana Rush, at Primavera Sound 2023 to talk footwork, depression, jazz and so much more. Photo: Cecilia Diaz Betz

On today's Line Noise, Johann Wald and Ben Cardew welcome British electronic music wizard James Holden to the RPS studio, ahead of his Barcelona gig. We dig into "trance" versus trance, utopia, playing the hits, Madonna, Max/MSP and more, in a wide-ranging interview.

On today’s episode I spoke to someone who has truly done it all: Richard West, aka Mr. C, an MC, rapper, DJ, producer, label manager and nightclub owner, who started out in London’s club scene in the early 1980s, got involved in acid house, joined The Shamen and became a pop star, and then went back to the underground, running the Plink Plonk and Superfreq labels, and also London club The End. He brings tales of acid house, pop madness and going underground.

This is a special miniature edition of Line Noise to celebrate the 10th Anniversary edition of Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. Ben Cardew, author of Daft Punk's Discovery - The Future Unfurled, discusses the new re-edition of RAM, what works, what doesn't and what it tells us about the original album. Plus: what on earth is Prog-Some Access Memories?

On this week’s Line Noise I spoke to masterful French producer Étienne de Crécy, a man who has made not one but two of my favourite house music albums ever, in the form of Motorbass’s Pansoul and his own Superdiscount. I spoke to him at the Nitsa club in Barcelona, just before he DJ-ed, on the Flashback tour, playing only vinyl. We spoke about hip hop, the much missed Philippe Zdar, filesharing and so much more.

Our guest on Line Noise this week Is Eddie Fowlkes: a man whose handprints are cemented on the Detroit Historical Museum's Legends Plaza as a techno music pioneer; a producer whose first record was released in 1986 and who has been DJing since the 1970s. He told Ben Cardew about clubbing with Frankie Knuckles, his role in Juan Atkins's legendary Deep Space DJ collective and being overlooked for his role in inventing techno.

Ben Cardew welcomes dub legend Mad Professor, a man who has worked with everyone from Lee “Scratch” Perry to Sade, onto Line Noise, ahead of his performance at the Jazztronica festival in Barcelona this weekend (April 22, 2023). They talk about the inspirational Scratch, remixing Massive Attack, dub as social commentary, white privilege and the lasting impact of dub.

Ben Cardew invited French house hero Folamour to the RPS studio to talk about his love for 1980s indie, Oasis, "that" ABBA moment, playing drums, the House of Love and - above all - his new album Manifesto.

Often on Line Noise we speak to artists who are in their imperial phases; but we also love new acts too, which is why it was a pleasure to speak to LaMeduza, a vocalist, songwriter, producer and - above all - junglist, based in Geneva. She first came to my attention with her vocals on the Subjective album, The Start of No Regret in 2022; and has just released her debut solo single, the LaMeduza EP for Overview music, which combines the fiercest jungle beats with the sweetest melodies. She was in Barcelona to appear at Nitsa with Phase, the drum and bass producer with whom she has frequently worked, although we caught up via Zoom, to talk flamenco jungle, working with Goldie and the importance of a good song.