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Happy daze
I love La Ritournelle by Sebastien Tellier. I can’t really put my finger on what sort of music it is. It starts off with piano then this almost Latin drum beat comes in and then it’s almost like a KC and the Sunshine Band vocal near the end. It does that thing, you know in the morning when the sun’s shining and you’re feeling good, it sort of raises things a notch without pummelling you.

Hard knock life
There’s an old Schooly D track called Signifying Rapper. He has taken a Led Zeppelin song and done this rap on it about getting beaten up by a drug dealer. One day the dealer gets beaten up and D goes by and totally disses the guy! It’s a really X-rated rhyme but also an excellent track. It’s one of those tracks that is pretty unknown but if you ever get the chance to check it out it’s the diamond track on that record.

Party time
Somebody gave me a compilation of Niney and Friends called Sounds from the Observer Station 1970-1978, which is old 1970s reggae on the Blood and Fire label. It’s really mellow but has a happy roots vibe. I like to play something that’s going to get me in a good frame of mind so I go out feeling positive and joyful, ready to have a good time wherever I go.

The morning after
Maverick a Strike by Finlay Quaye is such a pukka record. If you are just waking up and feeling slightly tender, his music helps you harden up a little bit. What he says is quite real, but he does it in a way that is heavenly as well.

Back on the road
Driving on the motorway I like to be listening to something like Straight Outta Compton by NWA. That groove, man, it’s like grrrr, I’m going to put my foot down and just whack it. But if I’m stuck in traffic I want something that involves different parts of my brain. I’ve got a track by the Marley Brothers and Capleton and Dragon called It Was Written that is a thought-provoking, religious ragga track. It makes you feel quite holy.

Music meals
When you listen to The Buena Vista Social Club it makes you think of hot Cuban streets and lots of beautiful food, nice smelling rice and meats and fish. You can almost smell the streets. I’m a rubbish cook so I would need something really inspiring if I was going to cook anything decent. It would hopefully bring out something good in the cooking. That’s what I figure, anyway, I’ll have to try it. I can’t be any worse, man.

Time for bed
If I want to get to sleep I’ll put on California Dreaming by Jos? Feliciano, a jazz guitarist. I discovered it because I was looking for breaks, I don’t really listen to jazz much but it’s a beautiful track. He’s blind and he sings and plays the guitar, and it’s such a beautiful rendition of that song.

Guilty pleasure
My guiltiest pleasure is a track called Space Truckin’ by Deep Purple. It’s a stonker, I tell you. I had to check it out again last night because I thought “is it really that embarrassing?” — and it is. I’ve got a live version of it on the album Made in Japan and it goes on for about 15 minutes.

Enough’s enough

Every time I hear the Coldcut remix Paid in Full I have to walk out of the room. I’ve heard it so many times, I just can’t hear it any more.

Stereo MCs’ new single, Set it Off, is out on Monday on Graffiti Recordings.