"Sometimes my biggest reasons for connecting to a film are simple, primitive, just about a feeling. Videodrome and Repo Man are two that fit into that category. In addition to the fact that it costars Debbie Harry in my favorite roll of hers, I love Videodrome for its particular use of my hometown, Toronto. Sure, Toronto is used in films all the time, but usually disguised as New York, or Chicago or Detroit. No filmmaker has used Toronto better and more consistently over the years than our hometown hero Cronenberg, though, and Videodrome he shot and set in the downtown Toronto of my childhood, complete with a central part of the story revolving around our local cable station CityTV (as “Civic TV,” the station James Woods’s character, Max Renn, works for), which really did play soft-core porn if you stayed up late enough. To this day, my dad lives on the street Max Renn lives on, and Barry Convex’s Spectacular Optical is a bakery on the same street as the Electric Youth studio downtown, just a minute away, making the connection both past and present. Repo Man has my favorite Criterion release cover art; it’s amazing and designed by movie poster artist Jay Shaw, who also designed the artwork for singles from our album Innerworld. With Repo Man you get Harry Dean Stanton in his first big-screen lead role, Emilio Estevez as his partner, and the streets of Reagan-era Los Angeles set to a classic punk soundtrack. What more would I need to love this film? Nothing. But like with all great Criterion selections, there’s always something new to take from it with every watch."

"Sometimes my biggest reasons for connecting to a film are simple, primitive, just about a feeling. Videodrome and Repo Man are two that fit into that category. In addition to the fact that it costars Debbie Harry in my favorite roll of hers, I love Videodrome for its particular use of my hometown, Toronto. Sure, Toronto is used in films all the time, but usually disguised as New York, or Chicago or Detroit. No filmmaker has used Toronto better and more consistently over the years than our hometown hero Cronenberg, though, and Videodrome he shot and set in the downtown Toronto of my childhood, complete with a central part of the story revolving around our local cable station CityTV (as “Civic TV,” the station James Woods’s character, Max Renn, works for), which really did play soft-core porn if you stayed up late enough. To this day, my dad lives on the street Max Renn lives on, and Barry Convex’s Spectacular Optical is a bakery on the same street as the Electric Youth studio downtown, just a minute away, making the connection both past and present. Repo Man has my favorite Criterion release cover art; it’s amazing and designed by movie poster artist Jay Shaw, who also designed the artwork for singles from our album Innerworld. With Repo Man you get Harry Dean Stanton in his first big-screen lead role, Emilio Estevez as his partner, and the streets of Reagan-era Los Angeles set to a classic punk soundtrack. What more would I need to love this film? Nothing. But like with all great Criterion selections, there’s always something new to take from it with every watch."

"There are quite a few Neil Young albums I could have chosen, but Harvest I like because it's that combination of acoustic guitar and dry, heavy drums. That's a certain kind of special thing that he invented, and they're quite slow. 'Out On The Weekend' is a prime example of that kind of slow, purposeful rhythm with heavy acoustic guitars. My best friend from school, Desmond, who unfortunately is not with us anymore- there's a piece I wrote about him on the Quietus actually - he was a huge Neil Young fan, and he had all of the Neil Young records. We were so close that we never bought any record that the other had. I spent so much time around his place anyway, so if Desmond owned it, it was like me owning it. Again, what can you say about Neil Young? He's a classic artist. He flew in the face of quite a lot of things. I liked Crosby, Stills & Nash; I liked Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There was a point when Crosby, Stills & Nash were uncool but Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were more cool, and Young was the most cool. There was a rumour that he'd left Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young because he'd figured out that he could make more money on his own. I actually think that's probably not true because I've read a little bit of stuff around that period. But Neil Young has remained singular. In theory I like everything he's ever done, although I haven't heard everything he's ever done. But certainly I've heard later work and really liked it as well. He's the important figure, as a contrary kind of figure."

"This is very similar to the Sly record in terms of concrete, abstract funk. When you hear it, it sounds really dense and dark. It doesn't sound organic, it sounds like it's from a concrete jungle. It never goes anywhere; it's in perpetual stasis, almost meditative. A few years ago, they released the sessions and takes, which is a bad thing to do because Miles would jam with his band and then carry on, sit and cut them up, mix them and turn it into Miles albums. It was very well arranged, and that was part of the fucking part of the aesthetic. Then to release the jam sessions for me was a bad idea because it's like releasing the out-takes of somebody's film. Whereas what Miles achieved with On The Corner was incredible. It's a big favourite of Primal Scream, we always used to play it on the tour bus. Miles was never about high energy, he's always cool and there's always a distance with him. All funk records are visceral and in-your-fucking-face, but On The Corner is quite cold too. It's an art funk record. He knew jazz music was old and didn't want to be stuck in the past. Miles was interested in young people and wanted to evolve with what young people were listening to. He was an open and receptive artist – that's the only way you can move forward with new energies and new ideas. We've learned from Miles Davis as a band, too: when you make music, you've got to make it for the future, even if you're not aware that you are."