"My fondness for the western has probably got to be included in here, but it can’t be something like Hombre, which is kind of silly. You know, I’d probably go Magnificent Seven, truthfully, if I’m going five, because seeing Charles Bronson, seeing Steve McQueen come into his own and just sit there and steal focus is kind of awesome. It’s one of those movies that has a pretty simple story, like a lot of great westerns, and I love simple storytelling. I think it’s so powerful. And I think The Magnificent Seven’s very simple storytelling and seeing that crazy group of guys – Yul Brynner, Bronson, across the board – all on horseback, sort of wondering what it was like shooting that, to me, as an actor, that always fascinates me. Knowing the amount of egos and the points in their careers when they had to shoot that movie, that, to me, as an adult, makes me put that on this list. When you watch the McQueen documentary about him, it breaks down how, whereas Paul Newman always seemed so relaxed and cool on set, McQueen was a fighter. He was an orphan who was constantly fighting for validation, you know? And they would talk about how, if you were in a scene with him, forget it. He was going to steal focus. In one scene, I think he’s reloading his gun, and it’s not even his scene, and it’s like, forget it. He wants you to just stare him in the eyes. [laughs] It’s pretty great."

"Around the time of Poses, which is 2001, and a bit earlier, I discovered Oum Kalsoum. The song itself, 'Poses' is based on her kind of vocal sensibility; the end of the choruses [he sings 'Poses'] is this Egyptian moment. I didn't rip it off – I was just influenced by her. I would say that arguably of all the singers on this list – and we're talking some heavy hitters with Caballé, Domingo and Callas – I think she would probably 'win', in terms of the voice. She sang for a long time, and is basically to this day considered the greatest Middle Eastern singer that ever lived. And she only performed in the Middle East – I think she did one concert in Paris and that was the only time she ever sang in the Western world. There's just stuff she could do with her voice which is just mind-boggling, and also soulful at the same time. It's very sacred. I don't know if she's a religious singer per se, but it's obviously in the music she sings. It's traditional so I guess it's religious. There's a sacred quality to it that is pretty frightening, but also beautiful at the same time. She was also a real character, and not a nice person. She dominated the scene for her entire career and no one else was allowed to eclipse her. In fact, there's some story where some young beautiful singer started to become well known, and she very quickly and mysteriously died in a car crash."

"That's like a bookend thing really, because it's one of the latest records I bought, only two months ago. Side one is the best side, sometimes he gets a bit busy, but the first track starts so sparsely, it's incredible. I saw Terry Riley recently when I was playing at the Primavera Festival. Everybody ends up staying in the same hotel near the site and a lift door opened and I saw him and he went 'hello Jarvis', and that was a very proud moment because I've only met him once before. Mark Webber, who was the guitarist in Pulp, he knew Terry Riley a bit and we actually did a performance of 'In C' with him at the Barbican years and years ago, and he remembered me from that. I was really touched. I think it's a really romantic record - none of these records have to be for any purpose but I have to say if you want to get it on with someone, it's a good one to put on. When Mark first introduced me to minimalism I thought 'there's not much happening here', but it makes you listen to music in a different way, you're listening to the actual sound of it. That expands your mind. Persian Surgery Dervishes is using that weird tuning, with loads more notes, it's questioning the idea of the Western scale, saying we can find notes within the notes. It's a long way from pop music, it's exciting, it's good to know you can be enthralled by music in which not very much happens. 
"