Line Noise

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. 

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. 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.

Richard West, aka Mr. C, shares his journey from London club scene to pop star and back underground, discussing acid house, music evolution, meeting Charles Koch, and transitioning from rapper to MC with tales of success and struggles.

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?

Masterful French producer Étienne de Crécy discusses hip-hop, Philippe Zdar, and file sharing at Nitsa club in Barcelona. They explore the French touch movement, evolution of music in the digital age, and fusion of English and French musical styles. Also, delving into production styles, collaborations, and the challenge of selecting representative songs from a varied career.

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.