1. Gabor Szabo | Mizrab (1973 version, from Mizrab studio album)
Gabor's guitar playing is amazing. A great inspiration. His style is precise, articulate, intense, free flowing and breezy. Can't get enough of Gabor. He was a true master. This is one of the pieces I return to again and again.

2. Air | Mayfair Song
Most people tend to favour the early work of Air, but in my opinion they hit the high water-mark on Talkie Walkie and Pocket Symphonies (where this gem is from). The production is incredible. Probably the deepest sounding record I own.

3. Japan | Cantonese Boy
Japan's Tin Drum is one of those records I always return to. I'm a huge David Sylvian fan, but Steve Jansen's drumming has also had a lasting influence on me (check MST from the new Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk album, for example). And Richard Barbieri's synth-work is second to none. He's really squeezing some juice out of his Prophet's on this record!

4. Piero Umiliani | Nostalgia (Rhythm Version) (La Ragazza Fuoristrada Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Umiliani is one of the true heroes of the Italian Library/Film Scoring scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Just listen to this flawless piece of Melancholic, Chilled-Out Bliss!

5. Tortoise | In Sarah, Mencken, Christ And Beethoven There Were Women And Men
TNT is one of the albums that has influenced me the most ever and this is an atmospheric gem from that album. The outro is unbelievable. We listened to this track while working on Passage, and I'm pretty sure it had a slight influence on tracks such as Coastal Path and Caffeine Blues.

6. Anton Carlos Jobim | Children's Games
I've never been to Brazil, but I imagine it to full of gorgeous coastal areas, green plants everywhere, bronzed godesses and a sweet scent of coffee everywhere. Jobim is a master of arrangements and this is a fine example of that.

7. Grateful Dead | Sage & Spirit 
I've been a Grateful Dead fan for 15 years, and the amount of Dead I listen to seems to increase every year – it takes up more and more of what I listen to. If it continues I'll be listening to nothing besides Grateful Dead by the time I'm 45!

8. Ashra | Kazoo
One of my favourite Göttsching cuts. It's quite often Manuel's spirit turns up during a Schnauss and Munk session. Definitely a huge influence.

9. Savath & Savalas | Apnea Obstructiva
This project of Scott Herren seems to be very underrated. I love the stuff he has recorded as Savath & Savalas, it's very traditional in a way, yet innovative and fresh.

10. Sun Kil Moon | Tonight In Bilbao 
Few things have had such a strong influence on me for the last 6-7 years as the work of Mark Kozelek. Most people seem to focus on the lyrics when discussing his work, but for me his genius truly shows in his guitar playing and sense of compositions. His songs are usually quite lengthy and meditative, but there's always some brilliant twists and turns happening throughout. It's a deep ride. Koz in this period (late Red House Painters, early Sun Kil Moon) was in a league of his own. Another true master.