Line Noise Podcast

Today on Line Noise we bring you an interview with Flinty Badman, half of the iconic rave duo Ragga Twins, a band who essentially invented ragga jungle alongside their friends in Shut Up And Dance. They are a brilliant, brilliant band and this interview was fascinating for me. We talked about London soundsystems, rave, political commentary, reggae owing them money, Skrillex, James Blake and more. Deman Rocker, the other half of the duo couldn’t be in on the interview but I am hoping to speak to him soon. Until then, enjoy!

Ben Cardew met Lille's finest purveyor of sunshine house, two-time platinum producer Myd, to talk losers, geeks, Theophilus London, the brilliance of Ed Banger, learning to sing live and Fatboy Slim.

Today on Line Noise we welcome Haitian house artist Francis Mercier, a producer who has worked with and / or remixed everyone from Manu Chao to Black Uhuru, Amadou & Mariam to Rachid Taha in his quest for a truly global house sound. We talked about house music as global force, sampling with respect, growing up in Haiti and maths and music. You can also watch the interview (for a limited time) on the Radio Primavera Sound Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/radioprimaverasound

Today’s guest on Line Noise is a giant of electronic music: Gez Varley, a member of seminal Bleep techno duo LFO, who later went on to make music as G-Man, producing the huge techno tune Quo Vadis. We talked about breakdancing, about LFO, getting a record deal in a club car park; we talked about musical history, What is House; the OTHER LFO and so much more. I hope you enjoy it.

KILIMANJARO and Junior Simba are two of the UK’s hottest new DJs, playing Afro-inspired house and club music. They are also friends and now collaborators, producing the excellent single Channel Z one hungover afternoon. It has now been released on none other than Diplo’s Higher Ground label, so we invited them into the RPS studio - via Twitch - to talk pop bangers, hungover creativity, Dundee, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plus, Junior Simba promises to play some Sheryl Crow. The interview is by Ben Cardew and Johann Wald. And you can, for a limited time, watch it on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1935516576

Today on Line Noise we welcome none other than Roni Size to the microphone, a Bristol producer who has more drum and bass hits than you’ve had awkward breakfasts with your partner’s parents. We talked about jazz, The Wild Bunch, Reprazent, Method Man and more. Thanks to the people at the Hospitality in the Woods festival for setting this up. It takes place in Beckenham Place Park on August 19, with a stellar drum and bass line up, including Roni himself, High Contrast, Dillinja, Bryan Gee, Jumpin' Jack Frost and LTJ Bukem. And this IS the final Line Noise of the season. Back in September.

Today on Line Noise our guest is Hubert Blanc-Francard, known to French house fans worldwide as Boombass, a fabulous producer in his own right and also one half of Cassius. We talked about his recent EP, WWWipeout, about the influence of the Playstation, Philippe Zdar, the French Touch, hip hop, MC Solaar and more. This is actually the last Line Noise of the season, so have a lovely summer and see you in September for more interviews, weird noises and nonsense. Photo by Matthieu Couturier.

This week our guest on Line Noise is Shawn Reynaldo, radio host, journalist, founder of the influential First Floor newsletter and now author, with the release of First Floor Volume 1 by Velocity Press. We talked about the challenges of electronic music journalism, what he’s learned about music from writing the book, artists as interviewers, public debate, streaming, second thoughts and a lot more.

Ben Cardew caught up with house legend K'Alexi Shelby to talk about the early days of Chicago house, his incredible mentors and keeping it nice and rough. His recent EP BM11 was released on Bad Manners Records on May 26. Photo by Marie Staggat.

On this week’s Line Noise, Ben Cardew spoke to Danny Briottet, one of three members of London’s Renegade Soundwave, a hugely influential electronic music group, who combined punk, electro, dub, indie, hip hop and industrial into a splendidly strange mixture that blew up raves, ignited college radio in the US, influenced The Prodigy and even translated into chart hits. You have almost certainly heard their best-known song, The Phantom, but each one of their four albums is very much worth your while. We spoke about coming up in London, sampling The Clash and internal tensions. I hope you enjoy it.

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.

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.

Ben Cardew and Johann Wald pick over the best electronic music from the 2023 Primavera Sound line up, from legends to new acts, locals to weirdos. It's all there to help you get ready for the festival.

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. Photo by Marie de Crécy

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.