"I was born in '81 so I think it was around '89, '90 when that came out. I grew up listening to Boyz II Men at their peak and “End of the Road” was my favourite song when I was about 10 or 11. “It was the harmonies, the vocal abilities, but it was also the go-to song that kids at my school would ask me to sing. Because I could hold a note, but also because I prided myself on trying to learn the ad-libs that other people couldn't quite hit. “That was really why it really resonated with me, because it brings back memories of middle school. The vocal ability of Wanya in particular in that group was so outstanding to me. I learned so much from that one song."

"I had to choose this one because it means so much to me in my life. When I met my wife we were listening to it a lot, so it's a really personal record for me, and a really romantic record. It's got a folk element but it's never silly, and on songs like 'Young Bride' it's really fascinating and beautiful. I went to see them at the Royal Festival Hall a couple of years ago and was absolutely blown away. I didn't know what to expect, but the singer had a real presence, a real energy, he was living it. It's the soundtrack to a very recent part of my life, and a very important moment to me personally. It has a huge emotional resonance for me."

"This is another song that we started listening to early on in the studio, we wanted to create a universe similar to 'Hanky Panky Know How'. It's a beautiful song, it's another one where the production is like Death of a Ladies' Man. The chorus is so strange, what does that mean, you know? But somehow he still finds a way to make it beautiful and for whatever reason, that influenced us. “There's also something about the way he delivers it. When he sings it, you feel something - ‘Oh, that's so good! but what's he saying?’ And then you look it up, ‘Hanky Panky Know How’ and you have no idea what it means! Sometimes it’s just about the way things sound and feel. You can say anything as long as it feels good."

"There aren't many tunes here - it's just a way of making music, really. It's one of those things where you read the sleeve notes and listen to it and just become completely engrossed. It's a bit pretentious being a drummer and liking Drumming by Steve Reich. But it's basically really, really simple and primitive, and I like it. I like how it has a simple motion which just gradually becomes something incredibly sophisticated without you noticing, but it's all in your head. You're making it like that. It's a great driving record. Going down the motorway listening to Drumming is absolutely brilliant. Does it remind me of working with Martin Hannett? Well, he wasn't tyrannical, but he was in charge. And he would never let you forget that."

"As a teenager in the late 70s I wasn't really interested in contemporary pop music or punk-rock, I was listening to stuff from 10 years earlier. This was a big record for me. Sometimes when I'm singing – it occurred to me last night in Istanbul – I realise there's a certain kind of vocalising I do that takes its cue from Leon Russell. He sang in a southern accent but it was very blown-out and exaggerated, very free and loose. I got this record as a gift for playing in the baseball team at junior high – I loathed sports but there weren't enough people to complete the team. So the coach said, have as many records as you want, just please be on the baseball team. I was like, all right I'll do it."

"It's a beautiful record. It's the Neu/Can supergroup in a way with Jaki from Can on drums and Michael on guitar. It's the pop end of Krautrock and sounds like Utopian sports montage music or something! It evokes the future, even still, for me or my idea of what the future would be at that time. It's a record I listened to a lot in recent years and just a record that I really recommend. I wouldn't have heard any of this stuff until the early-1990s but it was something we listened to a lot of as the Super Furry Animals. I quite like listening to instrumental music as it means I can still think over it without lyrics interfering; there's a time and a place for lyrics!
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