From The Desk Of Erasure’s Andy Bell: The Books Of My Youth

Oh, l’amour! Andy Bell is back with a brand new solo offering. The Erasure frontman is releasing the techno-tinged Non–Stop (Mute) this week. The LP was co-produced by Bell and Pascal Gabriel (Kylie Minogue, Ladyhawke, Miss Kittin, Little Boots). Gabriel also helmed Bell’s previous releases as Mimó. Non-Stop‘s first single, “Call On Me,” pulses with a glittering electronic beat and features heavily processed vocals with an Italo-disco flair. It’s quite a departure from the romantic, falsetto-driven synth pop of Erasure, drawing inspiration from soul, techno, Tin Pan Alley and even opera. Bell will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.

Bell: My mum had a fabulous collection of books when I was a kid, including Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Kinsey Reports on sexual behavior, a set of encyclopedias of medical conditions (including transparencies of the complete human body) and Paint Along With Nancy. I was a very curious but satisfied young reader, but my favourite book of all was Dunninger’s Complete Encyclopedia Of Magic, which contained all manner of parlour tricks and illusions, from sawing a lady in half to holding a seance in your living room. Most interesting for me was a complete script in the back for you and your ventriloquist dummy, which I tried to learn later on when I asked for and received my very own Mr. Parlanchin, which had bright ginger hair that I pulled off and used to wear as a wig.

Video after the jump.