My favourite albums with Liam Croker from Winachi Tribe

Sly and The Family Stone – There’s a Riot Goin’ On

This is Sly’s dark paranoid masterpiece and arguably his last great musical statement as he was falling deeper into cocaine addiction.

It was also my first introduction to funk music.

Massive Attack – Blue Lines

The greatest British hip hop/soul album ever made in my opinion. It turned us onto working as a collective as opposed to a traditional band, mixing different genres of music and working with different artists on our records to get the desired result. This record has a lot to answer for.

Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five – Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel (box set)

For me the greatest hip hop group of all time with the greatest MC Melle Mel. We went on to tour with the Furious Five, collaborated with Scorpio from the band and even took the name China White (our first band) after listening to their song, White Lines

Tricky – Maxinquaye

This album turned me on to writing lyrics at the age of 13. I wrote my first song while listening to this record, then realized I’d basically just ripped off Hell Is Round The Corner!

Back to the drawing board. Tricky is a genius and a one-off.

Funkadelic – Maggot Brain

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic are arguably our biggest influence. I couldn’t choose one album as my favourite so I’ve gone with Maggot Brain as it’s one of their most well known.

Eddie Hazel for me is the only guitarist to ever rival Jimi Hendrix…this album proves my point.

The Winachi Tribe launch their new single, A Room With A Zoo, at Manchester Academy 3 on Saturday, November 12