Line Noise Podcast

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.

Line Noise typically concerns itself with electronic music. But we couldn’t resist the opportunity to have a word with two genuine musical legends. Noah Lennox, better known as Panda Bear, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founding member of the band Animal Collective; Pete Kember, also known as Sonic Boom, is a psychedelic pioneer, guitarist, producer and vocalist, known for his work with Spacemen 3 and Spectrum. Together, they made one of our favourite albums of 2022, with the gorgeous Reset. We met them in Barcelona, before their brilliant gig, to talk about intros, Pete’s (lowbrow) love of Queen, a stage show, children, appearing on the Simpsons and working with Daft Punk.

On today’s Line Noise we speak to Nathan Fake, an English electronic music artist of the highest quality. His new album, Crystal Vision, is released on April 7 and it is a fantastic piece of work; we spoke about Crystal Vision, about Norfolk, rave, Autechre, sampling and lasting 20 years in electronic music.

On this week’s Line Noise Mar Vallverdú and Ben Cardew spoke to Singaporean songwriter and producer yeule, a non-binary cyborg entity who makes sparkling cyber pop. The interview took place at the Primavera Weekender, in yeule’s bungalow, which they had made up to look very yeule indeed. We talked about Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto, glitch feminism, hikikomori and more, in what was a fascinating 20 minutes. Picture by Sharon Lopez.

This week our guest on Line Noise is Barclay Crenshaw better known as Claude VonStroke, an American music producer, DJ, record label owner and festival organiser, whose kids still aren’t impressed by all his achievements. We talked about his favourite labels, the importance of record labels themselves, Dirtybird’s proudest moment and the one that got away, working with Green Velvet and how to introduce your kids to good music.

Today on Line Noise we bring you an interview with someone who has been making music for almost 40 years: Sean Spencer aka DJ Spen, a king of soulful and gospel house - although as we will discover later, he doesn’t particularly like to talk in terms of musical genre. We talked about remixing Diana Ross, joining the Basement Boys, working with Crystal Waters, the oddness of Milli Vanilli covering your work, hip hop’s relationship with house and so much more.

Welcome to a special festive episode of Line Noise. It’s been a long year and it is time to relax with some Christmas house music. And who better to bring it than Finn, the Manchester producer and DJ, who has capped a fantastic year with the release of No More Coal - ‘A Christmas Dance Record’, a full on festive house music rave up. I spoke to him about what makes house christmas-y, Olive’s You're Not Alone, Manchester music, clubbing at Christmas and who he would invite to this Christmas dinner: Martyn Bootyspoon, I. Jordan or Masters at Work?

From producing Warm Leatherette, to founding Mute Records, few people have done more for electronic music than Daniel Miller, a genuinely legendary figure in modern British music. His improvisational electronic duo, Sunroof, have a new album out in February and he was playing live and DJing at the recent Ombra festival in Barcelona, which is where I caught up with him to talk analogue synths, being on his own label, Kraftwerk, the appeal of synths, punk, Depeche Mode and being indie in 2022.

Ben Cardew met electronic pop sensation Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul at the Primavera Weekender to talk instant chemistry, humour, working with your mum and the reaction to their incredible debut album Topical Dancer. Oh and Charlotte laughs EXACTLY as she did on record.

On this week's Line Noise, Ben Cardew had the great fortune to speak to the disco legend that is Marc Cerrone, a man whose music has been igniting dance floors for 50 years now. We talked about his excellent new album, Cerrone by Cerrone, about Michael Jackson, Jimmy Page, the best parties of the disco era and seduction via music. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Line Noise. Today we have an interview that Ben Cardew did live at the the Curtis Audiophile cafe in Barcelona this October, in which he spoke for an hour to Steve Goodman, aka Kode9, an electronic music artist, DJ and the founder of the excellent Hyperdub label. They spoke about the concept behind his new album Astro Darien, Scottish independence, philosophy, Hyperdub, Rosalía and Burial. Thanks very much to Lapsus, for organising the event. Listen to Kode9's Escapology here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3SwrGW1XMkphBVkSn9Bpbn?si=nksPluznQJSNqHsn34HL-w

On this week's Line Noise, we caught up with Peru-via-New-York artist Daniela Lalita to talk about her excellent debut EP Trececerotres and we ended up in a deep conversation about life, dancing, lullabies and Buchlas!

Our guest today is Lorenzo Senni, an Italian musician whose beat-less trance shook the electronic music word in the 2010s, and who has worked on film soundtracks for The Challenge, You Will Be With Us in Paradise and, most recently, Atlantide, a brilliant 2021 film about speed boat culture in Venice. We talked about his favourite soundtracks, unfashionable trance, being a gabber voyeur and what comes next. Thanks to the Curtocircuito festival of cinema in Santiago de Compostela for helping with the interview.

Today on Line Noise we welcome Grammy-winning producer, Killing Joke bass player, Paul McCartney collaborator, psychedelic trance innovator and so much more: Youth. We talk about his new album with Gaudi, Stratosphere; punks and electronic music; Alien Sex Fiend; Goa Trance; writing number one hits; Little Fluffy Clouds; the KLF; being in The Fireman with Paul McCartney and so much more.

Line Noise brings you 22 minutes in the company of Sherelle, a London DJ who brought her 160 BPM madness to Primavera LA. We discussed the return of jungle, the art of DJing and becoming big during Covid.

Today on Line Noise, we have a fascinating interview with Cassy, the DJ, producer and Kwench label boss. She talked very honestly about the darker sides of night life, falling out of love with DJing and why being a mum / DJ is so very "fucking difficult". Plus, who does she rate as the best mixers in the game? And what was her summer anthem?

Today on Line Noise we have a very special guest indeed: Karl Bartos. Bartos was a member of the legendary electronic music group, Kraftwerk, from 1974 to 1990, co-writing many of their best-loved hits, including The Robots, Neon Lights and my own favourite The Telephone Call. His autobiography; The Sound of the Machine, My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond, was published in July and it it well worth the read. In our interview we talked about the legend of Kraftwerk, creativity, the problem with Electric Café, Johnny Marr, Florian Schneider and more.

This week on Line Noise we welcome Sasu Ripatti, a Finnish electronic musician of rare calibre and breadth, who has recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Conoco Ripatti and most famously as Vladislav Delay, whose new album Isoviha was released in July. We spoke about 'the great wrath', jazz drumming, Sly and Robbie and rap.

I. Jordan joins Ben Cardew and Mar Vallverdú to talk changing names, changing times and summer anthems. This episode was recorded at the 2022 Primavera Sound festival.