Ben Cardew

Ben Cardew is a British music journalist, music critic, radio/television presenter.^[1] He is currently based in Barcelona, Spain.^[2][3][4]

Ben Cardew
Ben Cardew, February 2025
Occupation	Music journalist, author, radio presenter
Subject	Electronic Dance Music
Notable works	Daft Punk's Discovery: The Future Unfurled
Website
linenoise.substack.com

Cardew has worked as a music journalist since 1991.^[5] His work has been published by The Face, The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Quietus, NME, Wired, Vice and many other media outlets.^{[2][6][7] [8][9][10]}Cardew is the head of programming on Radio Primavera Sound and a presenter for the show Line Noise.^[2] Line Noise is a podcast and digital publication featuring articles themed on dance music creators and popular culture histories.^[11]

Cardew has written about and interviewed many industry leading artists and innovators in music.^[12] Articles include reviews and interviews with artists including Sun Ra, 4hero, Kevin Saunderson, Wiley, Marie Davidson, Mark Pritchard, DJ Mehdi, The Dare, Quincy Jones and Goldie amongst others.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

Cardew moved to Barcelona in 2011 and has published several books, including a fictional coming-of-age novel titled The Warmth of the Summer Sun (2019) and the non-fiction Daft Punk's Discovery (2021), based on the second album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk.^[18][19]

Space Age Batchelor Pad Music: The Story Of Stereolab In 20 Songs

In March 2026, Cardew will publish Space Age Batchelor Pad Music: The Story Of Stereolab In 20 Songs. This publication explores Stereolab's colourful thirty-year history through a series of fifty interviews with people surrounding the band.^[20]

Daft Punk's Discovery: The Future Unfurled

Cardew first interviewed Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk in 2005 and was impressed by the band's humility, generosity and approachability.^[21][22] In 2021, Cardew wrote the book Daft Punk's Discovery: The Future Unfurled, which explores Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, and the group's history, influence and legacy.^[21][23] By strange coincidence, the book was completed just before Daft Punk announced that they were ending their 28-year collaboration and splitting up the group. ^{[21] [24]}Daft Punk's Discovery: The Future Unfurled was consequently re-edited before being published.^[25][26]

Radio Primavera Sound

Cardew relocated to Barcelona in 2011.^[5] He is the head of programming for the online radio show for the annual Radio Primavera Sound festival based in Barcelona.^[5] The Radio Primavera Sound festival has been an annual event championing the arts for more than twenty years.^[27] The festival features performances by leading indie rock, pop, electronic, dance and hip-hop artists.^[27][28]

Line Noise

Line Noise is a weekly online radio show, podcast and weekly music column hosted by Cardew and Johann Wald.^{[5] [29][30][31]}The outlet focuses on the history and contexts of dance music, past and present.^[32][33] Cardew has interviewed such artists as Sherelle, DJ Gregory, Lawrence and others. ^{[34][35][36][37]}