Area
AREA was one of the most important musical projects in Italy. Their first record was made in 1973 by alternative label Cramps. The sound was a mixture of electro-acoustic experimental music (similar to John Cage work), jazz-rock, mediterranean and middle-east folkmusic. The lyrics' contents of their songs (written by Gianni Sassi aka Frankestein) has a strong political and phylosophical environment.
AREA was one of the most important musical projects in Italy. Their first record was made in 1973 by alternative label Cramps. The sound was a mixture of electro-acoustic experimental music (similar to John Cage work), jazz-rock, mediterranean and middle-east folkmusic. The lyrics' contents of their songs (written by Gianni Sassi aka Frankestein) has a strong political and phylosophical environment.
Tic & Tac
Yellow vinyl / 180 grams, limited and numbered edition 300 copies. Following the tragic passing of the legendary Demetrio Stratos in 1979, the band Area wisely chose to forgo vocals (save for a few backing harmonies) on this album, as no one could ever replace the "maestro della voce". While this instrumental album may not push boundaries like its predecessors, it showcases a commendable blend of talent, with each musician shining brightly, particularly the remarkable bass work by Ares Tavolazzi…
Caution Radiation Area
*Comes in a CD-sized papersleeve album replica (gatefold), with obi-strip and insert of notes mostly in Japanese..2024 stock* With their new quintet format (including the entry of bassist Ares Tavolazzi) Area managed to consolidate their radical avant-garde approach to jazz-rock and achieve a more powerful ensemble sound: the result was properly incarnated in their genius second album “Caution Radiation Area”, a manifesto of bold inventiveness and sheer energy. Their explosive mixture of Weather…
International Popular Group
* Italian Language Edition * 2024 Stock * An anthology of the songs that best stand the passage of years in Area's repertoire, from Return from Workuta to the live version of L'Internazionale. Twelve unmissable pieces and in the enclosed booklet the entire history of the band album by album from the words of Patrizio Fariselli in conversation with Claudio Chianura.
Crac!
Temporary nicer price 700 copies, numbered edition. Clear Splatter Vinyl * “Crac!” is Area’s third album, released in 1974 and one of the strongest in their revolutionary canon of political artfulness. The previous album had received some mixed opinions after the explosive debut; Crac! is a departure in style from both of those two records—in a way, more compact and sleek if that is possible to think of with Area. In that aspect, this is the most “accessible” version of the band, and not surpri…
Maledetti (Maudits) - Color LP
Temporary nicer price ** 500 copies, numbered edition. Clear Splatter Vinyl ** 1976 was a year of flux and change. For the recording of the fifth Area album, the core membership of Stratos, Fariselli, Tofani and Tavolazzi were present, but drummer Capiozzo only appears on about half of the album, replaced on various tracks by either Walter Calloni or Paul Lytton. Steve Lacy augments the band, as do several other studio musicians (including a string quartet). Perhaps it was the contributions of t…
Arbeit Macht Frei
Temporary nicer price * 500 copies, numbered edition. Clear Splatter Vinyl *Appearing as it did in 1973, Area's debut album must have sounded to the average Italian pop critics like the end of the world. Issued on the Cramps label, the album highlighted Area's early sound, which featured overt folk melodies, Canterbury Scene prog rock, acid psychedelia, and vanguard jazz all filtered through a particularly Italian sensibility. Those who came to love PFM later will not be able to handle the beaut…
L'Internazionale
* Clear Vinyl * Nice and quality reissue of shis Area's 7" was distributed in the left-winged movement/circuit, as the money from sales financed the legal costs of the trial against the Italian writer and anarchist Giovanni Marini, caught up in Italy's Strategy of Tension and unjustly convicted of the murder. The B-side, Citazione Da George L. Jackson is a strong denunciation against the inhumane conditions of prisoners and inspired by Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson, a com…
L'Abbattimento Dello Zeppelin
* Yellow Vinyl * A great Area 7", quality replica of their L'Abbattimento Dello Zeppelin first single. Kick-ass free-form music recorded in the glorious year of 1973 in Milan, Italy. Blow-out with blasting sax solos played by Victor Edouard Busnello, and a kicking Demetrio Stratos on these two extraordinary tracks
Gioia e Rivoluzione
Temporary nicer price * 500 numbered copies, 180 gr. Red vinyl, numbered edition * Gioia e Rivoluzione is the third compilation of the Jazz fusion band Area. This album concentrates exclusively on the albums released on the Cramps label. Just like the first compilation "Anto/Logicamente", this album contains "Citazione da George L. Jackson", the non-LP b-side of "L'internazionale". "L'Internazionale" appears as well, but instead of the studio version released on the single (which has only re-app…
Anto/Logicamente
* 500 numbered copies, 180 gr. Red vinyl, numbered edition * Anto/Logicamente is the first compilation of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1977. As the title suggests, the track selection focuses more on the tracks that were "hidden, ignored by the critics and many others", as told on the booklet. "Anto/Logicamente" is a play on words based on "antologia" (compilation, in this case), "anto" (not) and "logicamente" (with sense). Noticeably, this album contains "Citazione da George L.…
1979 Il Concerto - Omaggio A Demetrio Stratos
* High quality vinyl reissue with remastered sound. 40th Anniversary Edition. Red Vinyl *On June 13th, 1979 in Demetrio Stratos, one of the most creative artists in the whole Italian progressive and experimental music scene of the 70's, died of medullary aplasia at the age of 34. Born in Alexandria in 1945 from Greek parents (his real name was Demetrious Efstratios), he moved to Milan at the age of seventeen to study architecture. After the experience with the beat group I Ribelli, in 1972, he …
Event '76
Wonderfully varied Free Improv, with a nice balance of different elements to keep it interesting (and not overly self-indulgent). One of those elements is Demetrio Stratos' voice, which is put to good use as a wild instrument (complete with duck quacking). It's rare for a band, that features Steve Lacy and Paul Lytton, to pull off free improv so completely convincingly when it is not within their normal milieu, but this performance is a testament to their musicianship and their listening skills.…
Radius
**Red vinyl, numbered edition** Alberto Radius first solo album - Originally released on Numero Uno label, cat. # ZSLN 55153. September, 1972.- and regarded as one of the Italian prog rarest though not particularly representative of the genre, was issued in 1972 when Formula Tre were still active, and was a sort of jam session with important Italian musicians of the time, including Franz Di Cioccio from Premiata Forneria Marconi and Area's Demetrio Stratos and Giulio Capiozzo along with Gianni D…
Are(A)zione
* High quality vinyl reissue with remastered sound. Gatefold, sticker. 45th anniversary edition.* The 4th album from the band that I consider to be possibly the finest Italian progressive rock band of the 1970's, & certainly a band in the top tier of all early 1970's progressive bands worldwide! Area combined jazz/rock/stolen ethnic music (mostly from Eastern Europe and the Middle East)/the avant garde and more. Superb playing from all (vocals/organ, guitar, electric piano/synths, bass & drums).…
1978 Gli Dei Se Ne Vanno, Gli Arrabbiati Restano
1978 Gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano! ("The gods depart, the angry remain!") is the sixth album of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1978, as the title says. It is the first album without guitarist Paolo Tofani, and it is also the first album whose lyrics were not written by Gianni Sassi. Also, noticeably it is the only album in which Demetrio Stratos is credited as a composer.Area has stripped their sound a bit. Not drastically, but the experimental, avant-garde and fusi…
Maledetti (Maudits)
1976 was a year of flux and change. For the recording of the fifth Area album, the core membership of Stratos, Fariselli, Tofani and Tavolazzi were present, but drummer Capiozzo only appears on about half of the album, replaced on various tracks by either Walter Calloni or Paul Litton. Steve Lacy augments the band, as do several other studio musicians (including a string quartet). Perhaps it was the contributions of this eclectic group of guests that gives Maledetti its bi-directional feel. On o…