Area
Arbeit macht frei

This review is dedicated to an incredible album, difficult to describe with simple words (the Zappa-like aphorism "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" takes on more weight in this case). Words are exceedingly limiting to express the ambition of the project and to narrate the Music composed and shared by that legendary sextet known as "Area International POPular Group," comprised of the equally legendary Stratos, Fariselli, Capiozzo, Djivas, Tofani, Busnello. The album I'm talking about, of course, is "Arbeit Macht Frei" (1973).

"Arbeit Macht Frei" today would be totally, and I emphasize totally, outside the rhetorical schemes of the so-called "politically correct," now so fashionable in the contemporary era. It's an album that makes explosive, iconoclastic, fierce provocation its essence. There's provocation everywhere, not just in the title but also in the lyrics, the music, the way of presenting oneself, the behaviors, the aesthetics. A work born from a project that embraced art in a total manner, predicting the immersion of the artist and their artistry in everyday life, thus giving birth to a sort of militant, active art (a theory stemming from the philosophical-sociological-artistic trend "situationist"). This was the plan, shared and implemented by the entire band, including the "seventh" member of Area, the eclectic Gianni Sassi, the brilliant demiurge/ideologist of the group. It could not have been otherwise since all the members of Area, including Sassi, were children of those terrible/montaneous/fantastic/iconic 60s/70s; in Milan, the place where the group took its first steps, there was an incredible cultural ferment and activism that inevitably contributed to their formation: the atmosphere of agitation, the radical protests, counterculture, the workerist identity, the bourgeoisie, the years of lead, the political and workers' demonstrations, the student movement...
Area wanted to be no less, they wanted to be part of that ferment; they wanted to stir spirits, and with the album title, they made it clear.

The title "Arbeit Macht Frei," indeed, is born of a double provocation: the first, naturally, originates from the phrase present on the gates of the Nazi concentration camps, "work sets you free," and goes on to refute the concept, making it current. The message to promote is this: to conceive the idea of work not as a source of freedom but as a trap of modern society that wants us framed and well disposed to perform our duty by silencing the brain. The second provocation is directed precisely at the Jewish people, victims of the German carnage. Referring to the Middle Eastern/Palestinian issue (in the album's first track, the reference is clear), Area goes on to condemn the Jewish people themselves, guilty of perpetrating, in the same way, the heinous crimes of the Nazi model.
After experiencing the provocation of the title, one moves on to the reflection induced by the lyrics. Area's lyrics were always the result of a long preparation and study. The lyrics are always extremely effective, very complex and sophisticated, but with a clear message and direction. There's the will to awaken dormant consciences, to become aware of reality and ongoing processes, an invitation to consciously participate (a word very dear to Sassi) in the demolition of the old and the construction of the new. Focus is placed on student and workers' struggles, on the issue of labor, on the alienation of the individual, on terrorism, on politics, on the international framework, and existential problems. However, the message is not conveyed only through the song lyrics but also through the music, an essential component of the project.

Embracing the nature of free jazz, with its breaking force, its shattering of established structures, son of the ideological currents of Black America (Black Power/Black Panther), Area managed to build a colorful and eclectic musical identity, with the same iconoclastic and explosive force of the title and the lyrics.
Free jazz, ethnic, Balkan, Middle Eastern music, rock, electronics, popular (of Greek origin), all this melded into 6 astonishingly played tracks. A hybrid sound where iconoclasm, virtuosity, and the complexity of free jazz meet more immediate and catchy themes that take shape from rock and popular/ethnic music. A sonic result difficult to describe in words but which finds a formidable balance between improvisation and composition, qualities that would be one of Area's music's strengths. And then there's Stratos' voice, not a negligible subject. Apparently, at first, even the great Demetrio Stratos (who had roots in soul, blues, and rock) had some difficulty integrating because the group was more inclined toward instrumental music. However, his talent allowed him to emerge even in these conditions as an all-rounded musician, developing that concept of "voice as an instrument" that, over time, delivered him to international glory.

The Area universe is still surrounded by an aura of complexity that makes it, at the same time, magnificent and fascinating. But perhaps Zappa was right; talking about Area is a bit like dancing about architecture.

So, it's time to stop with the words.

It's time to listen.