LP / Forced Nostalgia Records / 2012
La Bambola Del Dr Caligari were a short-lived minimal synth trio from
Bologna, Italy. The group's nucleus consisted of Judy Asquith (voice),
Aurelium Spitty (sound engineer, synth, drum machines, effects) and J.R.
Ewing (keyboards, effects). They recorded their first demo tape in
early 1984.
The group sporadically played live in 1985/86 and also arranged the
soundtrack for an installation at the art gallery Number Zero (Bologna)
in Feb 1986. Several self-produced tapes were recorded over the years
but were never properly released. La Bambola very rarely used
multi-track recording techniques, preferring to record live, resulting
in numerous takes trying to get that perfect one.
"Blue Quarters" is the only work of the group without the voice of
Judy Asquith. It features sessions recorded at Strawberry Studios and
includes fragments of two concerts held at “La Morara” (Bologna) in May
1985. Although mainly instrumental, some singing by Aurelium Spitty
makes an appearance. A couple of tracks also feature second keyboardist
Duke Whitewater and guitarist Lol Camain.
In 2005 Roberto Napoli mastered all the recordings from the analogue
tapes and kindly assisted in editing the selections made by Forced
Nostalgia. The result is some of the finest lost-and-found musical gems
from the '80s gloom-pop era, and they are finally becoming available
after being shelved for 25 years.