Contrazione
Cieli Rossi Sull'europa/conr-azione 1983-1985
Contrazione was a collective of political elaboration and text-music production that was active in Turin between the spring of 1983 and the summer of 1985, becoming one of the most relevant bands of the initial phase of the libertarian and anarchist Italian punk movement. It was born from the encounter of people from different bands that emerged in the pioneering phase of 1981-82: 5 Braccio, Fiori del Male and Kina. Contrazione produced the split album 'Franti/Contrazione' (self-produced, 1984) and the mini album 'Cineocchio. Storia e Memoria' (Blu Bus, 1985), as well as featuring on the international double album 'International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation' (R Radical Records, 1984) and countless tape compilations of that period. In those years, Contrazione took part in the anarchist punk collective in Turin and was active in the Italian context of occupations and self-management - from Virus in Milan to small venues such as the Tuwat in Carpi - and extending to places like Berlin or Amsterdam. A characteristic of Contrazione's happenings, besides music, is the reading and distribution of political texts, and the use of tapes and theatrical performances. In the disintegrating industrial Turin of the early 1980s, the themes of urban desperation, the fight against prisons, multinationals and commodification, and the self-management of one's own life recurrently permeate the music and lyrics of Contrazione, who played about fifty shows in Italy and abroad over the period of two years. This album is dedicated to Mara Caberlin, voice and mind of Contrazione, a true charismatic figure of the early Italian punk scene. Cover and back cover curated by Sergio Tosato; the album will be released in a gatefold version containing the lyrics and photos of the band.