"It's hard to describe the Ledge. He was discovered on The Gong Show many years ago in America. He basically just shouts and screams. He's a cowboy. He was recording in the 1970s but he's still going now. This is his latest compilation. I met him a couple of months ago when I was on my American tour. Bowie's a big fan too. He got the idea for the name Ziggy Stardust from the Ledge and he covered 'I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship)' on one of his albums [Heathen, 2002]. The Ledge is an extraordinary character. He plays the bugle during some of his tracks. If you ever see him, bring earmuffs. He's not very musical. I used to play his song 'Paralyzed' before my gigs at the Marquee in '77 just to confuse the audience and set the tone for the night. Complete pandemonium. Some of the songs he writes are… [trails off, lost for words] He's obsessed with Nasa and space flights, which I'm into too. I loved the space missions. The visuals and the way they got there. It's science fact. They were like cowboys in space. But The Ledge took it one step further. I'd be quite interested to see what other people think if they check him out. He's not to everybody's taste. The album is an anthology of tracks like 'My Underwear Froze to the Clothesline' and 'Standing in a Trashcan'. It's all good stuff. The names refer to Fergie [Duchess of York], Raquel Welch and Bowie. They're all fans of the Ledge. [laughs]"

"Favorite movie of all time, what I think is the best crafted movie of all time, is The Godfather. It was the perfect confluence of the source material being so intimate and true, and having within its DNA, it just so happens, is an incredible plot in the most organic matter. It is so not contrived, or “your IQ’s dropping,” which is almost the case of all other combinations, right? In this one, it’s inherently built into the life of these people. And there are stakes, there’s threat, and that’s just built in, so the source material had all of that. And the confluence of one of the great artists of his time for sure in Coppola, the great kind of forward thinking artists, and a leader in — he was a cult figure for artists that followed him for a long time. I got to meet him a couple times, and I feel the same way, if I was born on that time, I would have been on his ashram for sure. He’s coming from such philosophy, and depth about art, and this guy was kind of forced to do something with a hair more structure and a hair more chance of connection to people than he would normally want. He used all those tools of artistry and introspection and craft — he has an incredible handle on the world and a pushing of the envelope to bring depth and humanity to it, which makes it a perfect combination of everything."

"Magazine were also one of my favourite bands and that they came from the same city as me was a marvel. It didn't make any difference to what I thought of their music, but it was definitely a bonus. As a teenager I was very critical at the state of guitar playing and the usual cliché-ridden approach that was either blues rock or prog rock. It didn't mean anything to my generation. In John McGeoch, Magazine had a guitar player who was modern and relevant and interesting, while Howard Devoto was, and still is, one of my favourite ever lyricists. There is a thought that the first couple of records for many bands are the ones that are considered seminal. As is the case with Wire, I think that when bands break away from their first seminal albums - in Magazine's case that was Real Life and Secondhand Daylight - and they take somewhat of a left turn, it is really interesting. On The Correct Use Of Soap, Magazine did something original and almost ahead of themselves. There is a lot of space on The Correct Use Of Soap and I think it is better than the first two records. The space means that John McGeoch can really stretch out. Songs like 'Philadelphia' and 'Because You're Frightened' are based on guitar-playing that is utterly unique. It is one of those records that you can say that if it came out now, it would still not only be fresh but ahead of the race."

"Cartola is a salty, classic samba character from Rio who I don’t think a lot of people outside of Brazil really know about. I only found out about him through someone I know who married a Brazilian woman and he got super-deep into Samba and its history. “Brazilian music has always been a part of what Grizzly Bear do, especially Tropicalia records, Marcos Valle and Gilberto Gil. All of that stuff has been part of our vocabulary since our early years and in the last couple of years after Shields, I started discovering and getting into straight-up Samba. It isn’t trying to be psychedelic, blast anything open or trying to be crazy, it hits you right in the heart and does exactly what it’s supposed to do. “It’s not trying to blow your mind or anything, it’s just doing what people do in a Samba and it communicates so much. I know a little Portuguese, I don’t speak it well enough to know exactly what he’s saying but you can still feel the vibe and emotion of the song without knowing the words. There’s something so great about music that’s so straight-up in its own vernacular, that’s is exactly what this is and it’s just killing it. “‘Preciso Me Encontrar’ is my favourite track on the record and it’s such a good example of what that music does so well, it’s really honest, as honest as you could possibly be, there’s absolutely zero pretention going on and it’s played beautifully."